Dino Reunion
by Discordence
Summary: The newest team of Power Rangers, Dino Charge, is called to action by a certain Ms. Kimberly Hart. Requested by Emolichic1.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The second request from Emolichic1. This is a take on the Dino Charge season, and most likely, this is going to be made up as the story goes along. I think the only things I'll keep are plots like Tyler finding his missing father and other small facts the season reveals.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers.

**_1: A New Leaf_**

Surely she could pick herself up from the hole she fell into. Surely she could…well, Kimberly Hart believed it.

She looked out of the moving truck window at the night sky. After what went down in Harwood County with the Megaforce Rangers, she and her adopted son had packed up and were now moving to Amber Beach, a city known for its amazing dinosaur museum.

And she was uniquely fond of dinosaurs.

She was just hired as the newest English teacher for Amber Beach High School, and it was something she was happy to get the news about. The only thing she hoped was that her friends, the same friends she was Power Rangers with, weren't living there.

If she were to be honest with anyone, her friends weren't on good terms with her, especially her ex-boyfriend, Tommy Oliver. The only person Kimberly could think will have her back would be her best friend, Trinity 'Trini' Kwan.

There's just one problem; Trini was dead.

From what Kim knew from her secret sources, Trini was killed by a gun. The last time she spoke to Trini in person was before she left with her other friends, Jason Lee Scott and Zackary 'Zack' Taylor, for Switzerland to be in the Peace Conference. Kim then got a call from her after the Peace Conference. Trini had told her she's staying in Zurich, Switzerland as a permanent resident…and she has a boyfriend; David Burrows.

The next time Trini calls is to tell Kim that she was married to David and was expecting a child. It was 1994, and hearing that Trini was married and pregnant made Kim happy for her, yet worried and jealous.

Would David be a good husband to her and keep his new family safe? Would he and Trini care for the baby when it's born?

They were questions that would soon be answered as Kim's next call from Trini dealt with the birth of her baby boy in Zurich. But, David soon left after the baby was named. When Trini got home with her young son, a note from David said that he had to leave her for protection, but they would be reunited someday. The man finished the note with an 'I Love You' to her and the baby.

Kim received no calls from Trini for the next six, possibly seven years, and the former Yellow Ranger's name appeared in a breaking news report; Trini was found gunned down in her apartment where she lived with her son. He was nowhere to be seen, but some witnesses said they saw a boy being thrown out of the window just as the gun was fired. The boy landed safely in a passing truck full of oranges. Like the boy, no oranges were harmed.

The boy wasn't seen again, but since he had no relatives to take him in, he was sent to his mother's home country, the United States of America. The case ran cold and no one could identify who the trigger-man was. And she wouldn't learn who he was until about 12 years afterwards. When Kim finally put temporary roots down in Harwood County, she had learned of an adoption agency looking for people open to adopt. She took the chance and offered her home.

That was when she met Troy Burrows, a young teenage boy who had a troubled past.

Taking the teenager in was a big risk for Kim since he wasn't one for talking to other people. Then, the Megaforce Rangers appear, and Kim had no doubt Troy was the Red Ranger. She told him her Ranger secret in exchange for him telling her his Ranger secret. The two then formed a bond like mother and son, and Kim found comfort with Troy being a Ranger who still liked her and talked to her.

Most of all, Troy reminded Kim of Trini. He was just like her, and his facial features increased her belief. It was like something drove her to him. Speaking of driving…

"Miss Hart, we have just entered the city of Amber Beach." The moving truck driver announced. "It won't be long before we arrive at your house."

"Alright." Kim answered with a small smile. She looked over at Troy, who was asleep on her shoulder. She tried shaking her shoulder, but the driver grunted.

"I wouldn't do that, Miss Hart. Poor boy's been out of it the minute we left Harwood County. It'd be best to leave him be." Kim nodded and looked at Troy once more. He was wearing a red flannel shirt with rolled-up sleeves, dark denim jeans, and black sneakers. His dark brown hair was neatly gelled back, and the pair of aquamarine eyes that stood out were concealed by closed eyelids. All she was dressed in was a long pink dress and matching pink sandals.

Kim laid her head on top of Troy's, hearing his soft breathing. She looked out of the front window and saw the dark cars in front on the truck before they blurred up and she fell asleep.

.

The next time Kim woke up was in the apartment she had moved into. Troy _was_ next to her, but it seemed like he slipped out for his morning routine of jogging. She slowly climbed out of bed and walked into the main room. The apartment was a bit small; the living room and kitchen were the same room, and there was one bathroom and one bedroom Kim and Troy shared.

Maybe she could've looked for a house…or a bigger apartment.

Kim stepped into the living room and pulled out a granola bar she packed for the road. Looks like now is the best time to eat it. As she sat on the couch and watched the large TV, Troy had come back from his long run.

"Whoa, you're sweating like a pig! How far did you run?" Kim asked him in shock.

"I…_huff_…ran around…_huff_…the block. It's a…_huff_…big block." Troy answered, breathing heavily.

"Well, how about you go shower? You start college today, along with every other new freshman starting college." Kim told him. Troy nodded and opened his suitcase to grab his clothing before stepping into the shower. As Kim got up to unpack their suitcases, she heard a knock on the door.

Opening the door, she saw a woman her age with tanned skin, long black hair, and wearing a red shirt with blue jeans. Next to her was a teenage boy who looked to be a year younger than Troy. He wore a red and black shirt with darker blue jeans and black sneakers. His messy black hair complemented his brown eyes and tan skin well.

"_Hola!_ Welcome to Amber Beach!" The woman beamed. "My name is Maria, and this is my son, Tyler. We live next door."

The boy simply waved at her with a smile on his face.

"Why, hello there! My name is Kimberly."

"Kimberly…are you Ms. Hart, the new English teacher?" Tyler asked.

"Yep, that's me."

"Oh, amazing! You're my teacher!"

"Really? I'm eager to see you in my class later in the morning." Kim smiled.

"_Who's at the door?_" Troy shouted, his voice echoing through the apartment.

"Just our neighbors! Their son is a student of mine!" Kim shouted back.

"_Okay!_"

"Who was that?" Maria asked.

"Oh, that's my adopted son, Troy. He's getting ready for his first day at Amber Beach University."

"I see." Maria nodded before looking at Tyler. "Why don't we get ready ourselves?" The boy nodded and the two left Kim alone. She closed the door gently.

Turning around, she saw Troy dressed in his usual garb of a red T-shirt, a black leather jacket, a pair of dark jeans, and a pair of black sneakers. His hair was neatly gelled back and his red and white backpack was on one shoulder.

"Look at you, so big and tall and ready for college." Kim cooed. "Got any idea what you'll be doing there?"

"Not yet, but I'll find something. I'm looking at playing on their football team."

"Ah, the stereotypical man's choice in college." Troy playfully shoved her.

"I've got to go now. I'll see you when you get home." He kissed his adoptive mother's cheek before exiting.

Kim then decided to shower and change herself as she left the apartment for Amber Beach High School.

**A/N: It's a bit short, but hopefully it was good, Emolichic1. Now, about that Super Bowl...that interception, man...congrats to the Patriots for winning! The Seahawks did great too! Overall, this was a great ball game, and congratulations to both teams for making it so far! : )**


	2. Chapter 2

**_2: The Formation_**

Some say teaching a class full of seniors was difficult. To Kim, they were right. She could barely think with all of the noise buzzing around the room as she stepped inside, going to take her seat at the teacher's desk. Soon, she had had enough.

"_Quiet!_"

The class all froze. They had gotten into their seats and had turned to face her. Kim sighed.

"Okay, class, my name is Ms. Hart, and I'm your new _permanent_ English teacher, if it wasn't obvious already. Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself. I graduated from Angel Grove University, I have just recently moved here from Harwood County, and I have one son named Troy."

"Now," Kim slammed her palms against the desk, startling the students. "Let me lay down some rules: Don't talk while I'm talking, raise your hand to answer a question or for assistance, and be polite at all times. Do you understand?"

The teenagers all nodded.

"Glad we have an understanding with one another. Now, let me take roll call, and I apologize for any name slaughtering."

Kim cleared her throat as she began to list off the names. She saw one that interested her a bit, and she made a mental note to remember his name for later.

"Riley Griffin?"

"Here." A boy in a white shirt that was partially covered by a green sweater spoke up, raising his hand. Kim nodded before returning to the roster. A second name interested her, and like Riley, she kept a tab on her name.

"Kendall Morgan?"

"Present." A girl with violet glasses, a light lavender jacket, and a peach-colored shirt responded coldly. Her eyes matched the tone of her voice.

"Okay…" Kim muttered as she found a name that was definitely familiar to her, and he was the third name she kept a note on.

"Tyler Navarro?"

"Here!" He raised his hand and smiled. Kim smiled back. A few more names later, she picked out a fourth one. It was like a game.

"Chase Randall?"

"Here, miss." An accent came from the back of the room, and Kim could see a boy with a shirt similar to Tyler's, but instead of the red it was a dark gray. He was slouching in his seat and his navy cap was turned backwards, but he had a jovial and perfect smile plastered to his face. It suggested something might've been going on with him, and as people say, the prettiest smile hide the deepest secrets. Kim then turned her attention back to the list, and to the last person she made a note of and on the list.

"Shelby Watkins?"

"Right here!" The dark-skinned girl raised her hand in an abrasive manner. She had on a felt-like pink T-shirt with a necklace that rested on her chest. She was leaning back against her chair and her eyes were set straight at Kim, but they weren't cold like Kendall's. The woman set the roster down at her desk and proceeded on.

"Okay, class. Now if you would pull out a sheet of paper, we can begin our lesson."

.

The bell for lunch had rung, and Kim waved her fourth-period class off. She looked around her room and enjoyed all of the pink the other teachers had set for her. She then looked around her desk. There was an empty space in front of her for doing her paperwork, a computer to her right, some textbooks and desk organizer with pencils, pens, and other small items to her left, and a bit ways north of the empty spot for work was a picture of Troy, smiling his casual smile. Seeing it made Kim smile both on the outside and the inside.

Then, a knock echoed from the door.

"It's open!" Kim shouted, and the door opened to reveal a male she hasn't seen in a long time.

William 'Billy' Cranston.

"Billy!" Kim cried, wrapping her arms around him. Billy did the same, but it wasn't as strong.

"Kim, nice to see you again." He stated bluntly, his eyes never leaving her. Kim retracted back and stood silently still. She could tell her friend wasn't here for a reunion.

"Billy, what's going on?"

"You tell me, heartbreaker."

"W-What?!"

"You crushed Tommy when you sent that letter to him. How could you?"

"I didn't mean to! I fell for someone else, I swear! But now…now we're not together anymore."

"So the letter was for nothing?"

"Well, I, um…"

"Did you even marry him?"

"Yes, but only for a few years. He wanted to be with another woman, so I had to cut him loose before it turned into a murder-mystery show. I had no kids with him because I never felt ready for becoming a parent."

Kim paused before swallowing. "If y-you see T-Tommy, tell him I-I'm sorry and t-that I never m-meant to hurt h-him." She sniffed and hiccupped her words, and Billy realized she truly didn't mean to break Tommy's heart. The former Blue Ranger backed off a bit.

"Whoa, Kim, I…I'm sorry I hurt you like this. I guess…well, seeing Tommy so upset made me so mad. I'm sorry for this."

Kim looked up at him and smiled through her building tears. "I forgive you, Billy. I really do."

"Great. Now, could you come with me?" Billy took her hand and led her down the hall to a room. It glowed in a dim amber light, and Kim saw silhouettes talking to one another.

"Hey guys, she's here!" The two stepped into the room with the silhouettes, and Kim saw a sea of familiar faces; Jason, Zack, Karone, Zhane, and Rocky. They all stared at her, along with a woman who Kim had never seen before.

"Kim, it's really nice to see you." The cold tone of Jason's voice gave Kim the impression that everyone there was aware of the heartbreaking letter. Billy moved from her side to the unknown woman's side wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Look, guys, I honestly didn't mean to hurt Tommy. I did find someone else for me, but we didn't have a strong relationship. If any of you have the ability to contact Tommy, tell him I'm sorry." Kim bowed her head to them.

"I can tell him." The mysterious woman spoke up, and everyone looked to her. "No, how about you tell him yourself? TOMMY!"

As if upon mid-call, the man Kim had broken up with over a sheet of paper appeared from the shadows and laid eyes on her.

"Hayley, is that…?"

"Yep, that's Kim." The woman, Hayley, nodded. Tommy took shaky steps towards his former girlfriend. She stood still, waiting for him to approach her and stop fully.

"She has something to say to you." Billy told him.

"She does?"

"I do. Tommy, I…I'm really sorry for breaking your heart in the way I did. I didn't realize how much pain I really did cause you, but it was true that I did find someone. We just didn't relate to each other well enough, and for that, I want to ask you to take me back as your girlfriend…if you haven't hooked up with Kat yet…"

Tommy laughed a bit. "Why would I hook up with Kat? I like her, but as a good friend. Besides, she's back home in Australia."

"Oh. So does that mean…?"

"Kimberly Ann Hart, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend again?"

Kim spent no time thinking for a competent answer. "Yes, I will!" The two hugged tightly before Billy's attention-catching cough.

"Kim, um, there's something I need you to do for me. Hayley?" Billy motioned to her, and she had a rectangular tray that was lined with different colored gems.

"These gems are known as Energems. Hayley and I found them in mines outside of the town when we first moved here. We believe that they give someone incredible power, power that matches what we had as Rangers."

"Some honeymoon you guys had." Zack laughed, shaking his head.

"It was an anniversary trip." Billy stared his friend down, and everyone laughed. "But anyway, I want you find five children to recruit for this project I have. By the time you find them, the Energems will look a bit different. And there will be a bit more here…there will be morphers here for them. They will be the newest addition to the legacy, they will be the Power Rangers."

Before anyone said anything, Kim nodded, and left immediately. Now she knew why she took interest in those kids; they were going to be Power Rangers! It was so shocking to her, but at the same time, she was excited and buried her doubts as she went to go collect the five kids she took interest in.

Then, as she looked for the kids, she got a call on her cell phone. It was Troy.

"Hello?" Kim asked as she continued walking through the hall.

"_Kim? It's me. How's everything?_" Troy asked her.

"Good, good. Oh, but I've got some great news to tell you."

"_You do? What is it?_"

"The newest team of Power Rangers is being formed right in this high school!"

"_Whoa, really? That's great! Hey, I just finished all of my classes, so is it alright if I come to the school to check them out?_"

"You're done with school?"

"_Yeah. Since I get up early in the morning anyway, I requested in the summer that my classes be moved to all the morning times, so school is from seven in the morning to one in the afternoon._"

"Oh, I see. Yes, you can come. I'm sure they'd love to see the leader of the most recent team as well as the one to lead all the past Rangers to a victory in the 'legendary battle'."

"_Great! I'm on my way now!_"

"Wonderful! I love you, see you soon."

"_I love you too. Bye._" The line then went dead, and Kim continued her search. One by one, she found the five teens she's been hunting down; Tyler and Riley in the lunchroom, Chase and Shelby in the courtyard, and Kendall in the library. The five were led down the empty halls.

"Whoa, where are we going?" Riley asked.

"That's not important right now. Just follow me." Kim told them.

"You can't just pull us away for no reason! That's kidnapping!" Shelby argued.

"Miss Hart, I trust you, but this seems too mysterious." Tyler added.

"Hey, you heard her. Knock it off." Kendall sternly replied, and the teens stopped and stood still.

"The nerd's right. What if she just leaves you all here, and her and me…?" Chase began, stepping closer to Kim.

"Not in a million years. Now, all of you, step in here." The five all walked in and Kim stopped them as they stood in the middle of the dim amber room.

"What is going on?" Riley asked, and then Zhane stood in front of him with a toy gun like item and a black gem.

"Miss Hart, where are we?" Tyler asked as Jason stood in front of him with the same gun but with a red gem.

"Who are these people?" Shelby asked as Karone stood in front of her with the same item and a pink gem.

"Hey, miss, explain this to us!" Chase shouted as Zack stood in front of him with the item and a black gem.

"Ever heard of personal space?" Kendall asked in snobbery as Rocky held a purple gem and the gun. The teens found themselves surrounded by five people holding items that looked to be for them.

Then, the lights turned on completely.

The room was like a cave with light orange rock holding the ceiling. The dim amber lights they were under were fully turned on, and technology was everywhere, but the cave was strangely clean. The teens then saw a man with his arm around a woman, who they presumed to be his wife. Next to them was a man and a boy not too much older than them, maybe about nineteen years old.

"Welcome. Can you please state your name, all of you?" The man next to the boy asked the five.

"Chase Randall."

"Shelby Watkins."

"Kendall Morgan."

"Riley Griffin."

"Tyler Navarro."

"Tyler…were you the one who visited Kim and I this morning?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Tyler replied sheepishly. The boy nodded, but Tommy couldn't help but look at Troy in shock. Was he related to Kim in some way…or was he Kim's flesh-and-blood son?

"I see. But that's not important right now." The boy then shifted gears. "You five were called here to carry on a legacy of power and heroism."

"W-What?" Riley asked.

"You five will become the newest addition to the Power Ranger legacy." They all looked at him shocked, but with Shelby, she said nothing as her eyes couldn't take their gaze off of him.

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me. Now, take your morphers and the Energem picked out for you." They did as he said, and each teen glowed the color of the Energem in their hands upon touching it. The gems turned into something along the line of a battery.

"When these Energems are inserted into your morphers, you will transform into the Power Rangers…" The boy paused."

"Dino Charge."

Everyone stood still as the words left his lips. They acknowledged what he said and nodded.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Morph!" The boy shouted, and after taking some time to find the place to insert the battery, they morphed into their suits. Through their visor, they admired how they looked.

However, Shelby was still fumbling with the Energem, and that was when the boy stepped in.

"Here, let me help you with that." He told her as he took hold of her hands gently and put the Energem into the morpher. Shelby then morphed, but she was lost in bliss. The boy's touch made her stomach fill with butterflies.

"So, how does it feel, guys?"

"It feels great!" Riley exclaimed. "I can feel the power running through me!"

"Yeah, totally!" Tyler agreed, placing a hand on Shelby's shoulder. "How does it feel for you, Shelby?"

"Oh! What?" She asked. "Oh, yeah, this is pretty cool." She looked at the boy. "Um, t-thanks for t-the help."

"No problem." He replied, smiling at her.

"Okay, this may be pretty awesome, but who are you all?" Chase asked.

"Oh, that would be wise of us to do." The man with the woman responded. "Billy Cranston, former Mighty Morphin' Blue Ranger."

"I'm Hayley Ziktor-Cranston, aid to the Dino Thunder Rangers."

"Rocky DeSantos, former second Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger and Blue Zeo Ranger."

"Zhane, former In Space Silver Ranger."

"Karone, former second Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger."

"Zack Taylor, former Mighty Morphin' Black Ranger."

"Jason Lee Scott, former original Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger and Gold Zeo Ranger."

The teens then looked behind them to their English teacher. "Kimberly Hart, former Mighty Morphin' Pink Ranger."

Then, the final two men were left for introductions. The teens looked to them.

"Troy Burrows, former Megaforce and Super Megaforce Red Ranger."

"And finally," The man next to the boy, Troy, spoke. "Tommy Oliver, former Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger, short-term Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dino Thunder Ranger. It's a pleasure to see our newest Ranger team here today."

The veterans nodded in agreement.

As the other five admired their elders, Shelby kept her eyes glued to Troy. Troy...the name sounded so perfect in her head.

"Looks like someone's got a crush." Chase whispered to Kendall, nudging her arm. She could tell he was trying to make her jealous.

"Shelby?" She whispered back. "Well, I can't deny the fact that Troy is a good-looking man."

"So you admit you like him?"

"Like that? No. I'm just curious as to why Shelby is attracted to him. She's the type of girl who doesn't need a male companion."

"Why don't you ask?" Chase recommended, and Kendall stopped looking at him to stare at Shelby. He did have a point there.

"I'd hate to break up the introductions, but you five need to go. There's a monster attack in the city center, and I'm sure the people of Amber Beach are in need of some Rangers." Billy told them, and Tyler, Riley, and Chase left immediately. Kendall, seeing that Shelby was still staring at Troy, she hooked arms with the Pink Ranger and pulled her away.

"Well, now that that's over..." Kim sighed before Billy handed her a morpher and the yellow Energem. Kim glowed yellow and the gem became a battery. She inserted it in and became the yellow Dino Charge Ranger, but her helmet was shaped like sabertooth's mouth, with a longer pair of teeth on top of the smaller pair of sabertooth teeth.

"Billy, what is this?" Kim asked.

"The team needs a leader, so why not you? I picked out yellow in remembrance of Trini. I know how much she means to you, so think of this as a tribute to her." Billy explained, glancing at Troy briefly.

"Thanks, Billy. I'll be off now." Kim replied before hugging her adopted son and running out of the room.

"Okay, now with them fighting, we have a project that we need you help with." Hayley told the other veteran Rangers. "Jason, Rocky, you man those computers over there. Karone, Zhane, you take the computers over here with Zack. Troy, Tommy, you two can man the erosion tanks and Billy and I will lead everything."

They all walked over to an area with two tanks stuck in amber, and computers around a control panel. In the amber seemed to be a preserved caveman with somewhat long black hair.

"Found this during our trip too." Billy pointed out as everyone got ready. As they began wearing away the amber, Tommy couldn't help but start asking Troy some questions.

"When you said Tyler visited you and Kim, I was wondering if you guys were related to each other. Are you?" Tommy asked.

"Sort of. What do you mean exactly?" Troy replied.

"Are you Kim's flesh-and-blood son?"

"What? No! I'm her adopted son."

"Where are your real parents, then?"

"My dad left to protect me and my mom after I was born, and my mom was shot to death when I was seven."

"Do you remember your mother at all?"

"Yeah. She had long black hair and an Asian persuasion to her. She talked about Kim and how they were best friends. I would tell you her name, but I can't really remember it."

"Oh, I see." Tommy concluded as the veterans continued trying to free the caveman from his amber prison.

**A/N: Koda will be the Blue Ranger here, so don't worry. I'm also having Kendall be purple on the core team, not as an addition. And judging by Shelby's actions, you can tell what the ship is here besides Tommy/Kim and Billy/Hayley. That is all for this note. **


	3. Chapter 3

**_3: A Blip In Time_**

The Rangers down in the base had finished destroying the amber, to which the man opened his eyes and staggered out of the broken rock, grunting.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Tommy told the caveman as the Green, Red, White, and Black Ranger caught him. Through his long black hair, the caveman's dark eyes took in the other surrounding Rangers, to which he began to calm down.

"Tommy, he's calm." Billy told his friend. Tommy released his grip and backed away. "Hey, what's your name?"

"I am…" The caveman started shaking a bit, his words coming out shakily. "…Koda."

"Well, Koda, welcome to our cave." Billy greeted. "My name is Billy, and this is Hayley, Karone, Zhane, Rocky, Jason, Zack, Troy, and Tommy."

"Billy." Koda pointed at the man, and he continued to point to the other as he went in order of their names. "Hayley, Karone, Zhane, Rocky, Jason, Zack, Troy, and Tommy. Hello…there."

"Hi." They all greeted back. Hayley then looked expectantly at her husband, and Billy found the blue Energem. He slapped it into the palm of Koda's hand.

"This is an Energem, Koda. We're entrusting you with it and we're sending you to the battle to join your comrades and leaders." Billy then gave the caveman the morpher. "Put the Energem into this item here." Koda slowly nodded, and in a matter of seconds, the Energem successfully went into the morpher and Koda transformed into the Dino Charge Blue Ranger.

"Wow." Troy whistled. "He found the slot faster than Shelby did, and he just woke up."

"Yep." Rocky agreed. "And he looks amazing, too!"

"Koda, how do you feel?" Jason asked.

"I feel…good." Koda slowly responded, processing the words through his brain.

"Well, he'll need some time to register the expanded English language, but I'm sure he knows what he's saying." Karone commented. Zhane agreed by nodding.

"Okay, well, I'd love to keep him here for more questions, but he has somewhere to be." Hayley told the other Rangers, who nodded and watched as Koda was teleported to the battlefield.

.

It all happened so fast. First thing that Kim knew was that she and the five teens were searching the surrounding area, and then they found themselves in a fight against a monster named Iceage and his army of the foot soldiers called Vivixs. In the beginning, the Rangers were doing great knocking them down like bowling pins, but when a second barrage comes, they find themselves losing.

"Augh! I can't take much more of this!" Riley yelped as he fell to the ground, demoprhing.

"Me neither!" Tyler cried as he fell next to Riley, demoprhing as well.

"Hey, ow! Aah!" Shelby tried to avoid an incoming Vivix, but a second came from behind and knocked her down next to the boys.

"Come now, you can't do much on the ground." Chase teased his fellow teammates. Kendall came up next to him and smacked the back of his helmet.

"Don't be so cocky. You can end up like them in a matter of seconds." She scolded. Just as the last word left her lips, many power shots slammed into the Black and Purple Rangers' back, sending them flying. Chase and Kendall demorphed as they both landed in a pile of empty waste cans.

"CHASE! KENDALL!" Riley, Tyler, and Shelby cried out for their friend. That was when Kim landed on her feet in front of them.

"You three, go retrieve Chase and Kendall. I'll handle this." Kim ordered as she held the morpher in her hand, spinning it to blast back the Vivixs. The large cluster in front of her all fell down like dominoes, and the only monster left to fight was Iceage himself. Kim put away her morpher/blaster and ran towards Iceage to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Kim found it hard due to the largeness of the monster's arms. The sharp icicles at the end of them weren't very kind to be in contact with either.

"Ha-ha, Yellow Ranger! You're no match for me!" Iceage knocked her down, demoprhing her. He raised one arm over her head, ready to strike. "And now, I can finish you off for good!"

Just as Iceage was about to strike, a blue boot kicked him back.

"What?" Kim whispered to herself as she saw the Blue Ranger that fits into the team. He kept on kicking back Iceage with such strength, and it mesmerized Kim, preventing the five teens, who have regrouped, from pulling their English teacher to her feet.

"Ms. Hart, can you hear us?" Tyler waved a hand in front of her face as Riley asked the question. The woman shook her head rapidly, then looking at the teenagers.

"No one…harms my…friends!" The voice spoke slowly, as if to register what he was exactly saying. He charged at the monster and attacked him with all the energy he could muster.

"You cannot…withstand my…caveman strength!" Were the final words of the Blue Ranger. He managed to lift Iceage up in his arms and throw him down ferociously. The monster slowly go to his feet.

"Gah, I can't go on like this for much longer!"

"No you can't!" Kim shouted as she and the other five Rangers re-morphed. The held their morphers/blasters and fired a combo shot to finish off the monster for good. The Blue Ranger marveled at the blast's power and strength as he watched them instantly demorph. Chase came up to him.

"Hey, mate, who are you? How did you get these powers?" The Blue Ranger then demorphed and smiled wide at Chase and the others.

"My…friends." He marveled.

"What?" Chase asked in confusion, and Riley came up next to him.

"Excuse me, but what is your name?"

"I am…Koda." Koda waved to the six people in front of him. "I am…caveman woken up by…Billy. Billy gave…Energem…and I…use it to fight…monster."

Kendall nodded, understanding everything. "I see. So Billy and the other Rangers at the base must've awoken you after we left, and they gave you the Blue Energem to use."

"Hmph, nerds." Chase shook his head, and he received glared from both Kendall and Riley.

"Okay, guys, let's head back to the base. I'm sure the others want to see us." Kim told them as the now seven member team of the Dino Charge went back to the base.

.

"Dang, you guys kicked some major butt! I'm positive that Kim picked out a good group of teenagers." Zhane remarked, nodding his head eagerly.

"Glad we were able to get the job done." Tyler smiled.

"Yes, and with Koda by your side now, you six teenagers will accompany Kim as the Power Rangers Dino Charge."

The six kids high-fived each other and high-fived their teacher and leader.

"Now listen." Hayley's tone stiffened them. "Sledge, a powerful and dangerous intergalactic bounty hunter, is your main enemy. Long ago, he attacked the keeper of the Energems, and before his fate, Keeper entrusted the Energems to dinosaurs, the same dinosaurs that you all are linked to. Now, he's here to get all of the Energems back, but what he doesn't know is that we have all eleven of them. You all have seven of them in your possession, and protect them with your life. Understood?"

The seven nodded.

"Okay then." Kim concluded, turning to her six teammates. "As the Dino Charge Rangers, our mission is to stop Sledge from getting his hands on the Energems and destroying the Earth."

"Right!" The teens shouted in unison. Koda simply nodded with a wide smile. Kim stuck out her fist into the middle, followed by Chase, Shelby, Riley, Tyler, and Kendall. Koda, courtesy of Chase, had his fist guided into the circle the Ranger made themselves before throwing their hands into the air, sealing the deal as being Rangers.

**A/N: ****_Really _****sorry this is so late. I got caught up with homework and other activities, and I was lucky to get this out. On a different note, while we have only four episodes, who's your favorite Dino Charge Ranger in the series so far? My favorite is Koda. ; )**


	4. Chapter 4

**_4: Broken Walls_**

The week for monsters had been very slow for the Rangers, but the week for schoolwork was just adding onto itself. While Kim was having her students work on notes for a story, she noticed a shift in Tyler's demeanor. He seemed to have a look of pure concentration on his face, but while having a face like that is good, his face was one that seemed to hide something.

The students have noticed as well.

Kim remembers how Riley and Chase have told her constantly that Tyler seemed to be…depressed and a bit moody. Not only that, but both Shelby and Kendall mention the same thing to her in the Ranger base when the girls see him.

Seeing Tyler walk up to her desk to hand in his notes, Kim took the chance to strike.

"Tyler, can we talk?" The woman asked.

"Um, sure. What do you want to talk about, Ms. Hart?" Tyler asked back.

"The other Rangers, bar Koda of course, have been telling me that you've been in some kind of mood. It's really bothering them that your cheeriness has been replaced by an aura of somber. What seems to be the issue?"

"Ms. Hart, um…I can't tell you."

"Oh? Why not?"

"I mean I can't tell you here. Maybe I can tell you when you are home." Kim nodded with what Tyler told her and she sent him back to his desk with his looked-over notes.

It had only been ten minutes since the conversation and the bell rang for the next period. The class all got up and left except for Tyler, Chase, Kendall, Shelby, and Riley. Kim nodded to them and they walked to Billy's classroom and by use of the supply closet in the science room, the six slid down a metal pole and entered the base.

And everyone couldn't help but notice that Tyler looked happy. Especially Chase as he walked up to the Red Ranger.

"Hey, mate, you seem cheerful." The Black Ranger joked.

"Yeah, I do. I'm going to be talking with Ms. Hart later in the evening, and I've really wanted to for some time now."

"Ah, I see, I see. You want to also make a good impression on her like I do. Well then, good luck." Chase winked, chuckling.

"C'mon, Chase, you know Ms. Hart is way older than us. Not to mention the fact that she has a son."

"Sure, but Troy's not _her_ son, if you know what I mean." All Tyler did was walk off and shake his head, laughing. That was when he ran into Kendall.

"Oof! Kendall, I'm so sorry!" Tyler hastily apologized.

"Hmm?" Kendall turned around to see her acquaintance. "Oh, Tyler…you seem energetic."

"Yep. I feel better knowing I have the chance to chat with Ms. Hart after waiting for it."

"I see. Hey, would you like to help me with—Tyler?" Kendall asked the teenager as he walked away, meeting with Shelby as she hung around Troy.

"Troy, um…" Tyler called the man's name to get his attention.

"And that's how you—yes, Tyler?" Troy looked over at his successor who called for him. With Shelby gently clinging to his red flannel shirt, they walked over to him.

"Uh, I just wanted to tell you I'll be coming by tonight to talk to Ms. Hart." Tyler mumbled loudly.

"Oh, okay. That's fine."

"Great." Tyler then rushed off before Troy could say anything to him. The next person to bump into was Riley, and he seemed to be on his phone.

"Yeah, it's been great here. How's the university?" Riley asked into the phone. "Really, you spend a few classes with Ms. Hart's son? That's awesome, Matt! Trust me, Troy's a cool guy."

"Hey, Riley, uh…"

The Green Ranger turned around to see the Red Ranger. "Oh, Tyler! No, Matt, it's a friend. Nah, don't worry about it, okay? I gotta go, bye." He then hung up.

"Who was that on the phone?"

"My older brother, Matthew. Matt for short. He's at the same university as Troy, but unlike him, Matt has a dorm. He's almost never able to visit our family anymore due to schoolwork. He always say he'll come back when he's able to, but so far, he hasn't yet. It sucks; I love him a lot and now he's practically not around. I just wish—Tyler! Hey, wait come back!" Riley called for the suddenly upset Tyler, who sat against a column of fake orange sedimentary. Then, Koda walked over and crouched down to the boy, who was crying into his hands.

"Tyler sad." Koda commented sadly. "Is everything okay?"

"N-No. Riley made me upset when he brought up his brother he barely sees anymore. It reminded me of someone in my family I miss."

"Oh. I used to…have little brother, Taku. I and he...very close. We hunt for food and always play together. After I was frozen, I…never see him again."

"Oh, Koda, I'm so sorry." Tyler dried his wet eyes a bit, looking at his Neanderthal friend. Koda placed a strong hand on Tyler's shoulder.

"I have faith…family person will…come back. Tyler, do not…lose your faith." Koda smiled warmly before walking away. Tyler got to his feet and smiled back at the caveman before he left the cave for home.

.

"Tyler, _mi hijo_!" Maria cried as she ran over and hugged her only son tightly. "How was school today?"

"It was alright, I guess." Tyler responded meekly. "…Hey, Mom, do you know if Ms. Hart is home?"

"Kimberly? No, I don't think so. I did see a man use a key to get into her apartment, though."

"That must be Troy, her son. She still must be at school, then." Tyler sighed as he slumped against the couch in sadness. Maria looked at her feet; Tyler was never this downtrodden before, and she was sure that Tyler could wait for Kim to get home with no problem. The only time he was deeply upset was when…

"…Tyler, are you thinking about your father?" Maria let the question slip out of her mouth as she sat down next to her son. Tyler looked over at her with tearful eyes.

"Oh, _mi hijo_, I'm so sorry. He promised he'd return home after the expedition, and I have no doubt he'll return." Maria hugged a distraught Tyler, running a comforting hand down his back. Suddenly, Tyler retracted.

"Mom, um, could we not talk about him now? I wanna stay composed for Ms. Hart."

"No problem, Tyler. But before you go, wouldn't you like some dinner?" Maria walked into the nearby kitchen and pulled out the plate of enchiladas she had been making for a while before Tyler came home. He then walked to her spot and took the plate to their tiny dining table made for two.

"Why are we living in this kind of apartment, anyway?" Tyler asked out of nowhere, him mouth filled with enchilada.

Maria gulped down her food. "This was the place your father wanted us to be in when he came back. Different home, same city."

"I guess he didn't like our old house."

"No, it was that he wouldn't find us when almost every house on the block looked identical. He said that the apartment wasn't the best place to live, but he'd find us better because he knows this apartment in and out."

"I got it. Now I know why we live here." Tyler looked around. Despite the small size and few broken, rusty, dusty, and smelly spots, the apartment felt cozy and warm. Like a cabin, thought the apartment was made out of metal and other things.

All of a sudden, Tyler heard a door open and close next door. Kim, uh, Ms. Hart was home.

.

"So, how was school today?" Kim asked as she took a bite out of her TV dinner. Troy was having the same thing, as Kim had made two during her lunch break.

"Good. Nothing really special to tell you other than that I met Matt." Troy responded, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Who's Matt?"

"Riley's older brother."

"Ah. He'll be someone to keep in mind." Troy nodded to Kim's comment.

"So, how was your day?" Troy asked back with a smirk.

"It was alright. Just a bunch of chatty teenagers. But, I also learned what the other Rangers in the base do at the school."

"Oh, really? Tell me."

"Well, Rocky teaches culinary class, Billy and Hayley are the two science teachers, Zhane has an astronomy class he teaches, Karone teaches all of the language classes, Zack teaches music history as well as being the coach for both the cheerleaders and dance team, and Jason is the male physical education coach and is the coach of the sports teams."

"Zack coaches cheerleaders and dancers?"

"Don't you even dare, Troy! The girls change at home and come back later."

Troy snickered before he and Kim went back to their meals. As Troy watched the TV in front of them, Kim heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Tyler Navarro, Ms. Hart!" Kim got up, inched around her small tray, and opened the door for her student/neighbor.

"Hi, Tyler! Nice to see you!" Kim beamed.

"Hello to you too, Ms. Hart." Tyler smiled.

"Tyler, you can call me Kim when I'm at home." Tyler nodded to what she said. She led him inside and shut the door behind him. Tyler looked around the apartment; his looked better than theirs, but then again, they did just move in.

"Hey, Troy." Tyler waved. Troy waved back as he was gnawing on a piece of chicken. The Yellow and Red Dino Charge Rangers seated themselves in the bedroom Kim and Troy shared.

"Sit." Kim told Tyler as she patted the spot next to her on the large bed. He did what she said.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about with me?"

"Um, well, it was about my mood recently." Tyler told her sheepishly.

"Okay, then. Tell me what's going on."

"My mom and I live in the apartment next to yours, right? Well, before the apartment, my mom, my _dad_, and I lived in a house in the suburbs of Amber Beach. Then, when I was eight, my father left on an expedition. I've been waiting to see him for ten years now."

"Oh, Tyler, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, i-it's alright. Expeditions as big as his take a long time, so I understand the long wait. While I was waiting for him, I built up some kind of wall between me him and I. The wall made me question if he would even return, yet it gave me strength in that he would come back. He had us live in the apartment so that he would find us, and it would be easier for him than to look through all of the houses in that suburb."

"I see. So your mood was because you miss your father and were worried about his return?"

"Yeah, you nailed that right on the head." Tyler chuckled, and then Kim got up.

"I'm going to clean up in the living room, so sit tight." Once she left, Troy came in.

"Your adoptive mother's surely something." Tyler told him.

Troy laughed. "She sure is. It's no wonder the great Tommy Oliver fell for her when they were your age."

"Wait, why not your age? How old are you?"

"Nineteen and in college. You're eighteen and in high school. They were together in high school."

"Oh." Troy then flopped against the bed. He laid on his back, next to Tyler, who decided to lay down next to the previous Red Ranger.

"What were you taking about with Kim?" Troy asked to break the ice.

"About my dad. I haven't seen him for ten years, and I'm longing for his return."

"You were eight when he left?"

"Yep."

"Oh." Troy looked up at the ceiling. "…I don't know who my dad is."

"W-What?"

"You heard me, Tyler. I don't know who my dad is. What I know is that he had my last name, 'Burrows', and he loved my mom and me a lot. He left my mother and I after I was born for some reason of protection, but in his final note, he said he loved my mom very much and he loved me very much. We waited, and waited, and waited. It was about five years since he left us, and I lost something I won't ever be able to get back."

"What?"

"My mother."

Tyler was taken aback with how Troy told him that. He was calm and composed as his eyes focused on the unmoving ceiling.

"I was about five years old when I saw it. Some man came into our home and pointed a gun at my mom. She held me tight and tried to fight him off with pleading and shouts of agony. In some kind of last resort, she carried me to the window, and as he pulled the trigger, she threw me into a crate of oranges on a moving truck. The last thing I saw of her was her falling down with a gunshot wound that looked to be to her head."

"Dang, Troy, I'm so sorry. Your mom was a good woman, I'm sure of it."

"She was the best mom in the world. She was incredibly pretty and always gave her full affection to me. She would always play with me and when I was sick, she would nurse me back to health. It was only us two when I was growing up until that guy killed her. I would never know how she put up with me for as long as she did, I must've been some kind of adorable monster."

Tyler laughed. "All kids around that age are adorable monsters, me included."

Troy rolled his eyes playfully before he turned serious again.

"Give me your hand."

"What?"

"Do it. Give me your hand." Tyler slipped his hand into Troy's.

"Why am I doing this?" Troy turned Tyler on his side so that the two Red Rangers could look each other in the eyes.

"This is from one Red to another, okay? Don't lose hope. I may have lost my mother, but I still have hope that my father will finally find me."

"Troy…"

"Tyler, don't give up. Your dad will come back, I'm definitely sure…but don't forget about your mother either."

"Troy, what…"

"She's been with you since the first day of your life. She takes care of you, she feeds you, she nurses you back to health, she gives you a home, and most of all, she loves you. Your mother's been on your side forever, and she's just as important as the hope you have that your dad will come home."

"But…"

"Tell me, Tyler, how many times have you appreciated your mother for everything she's done for you?"

Tyler had no good answer to his elder's question. "I guess…I was so wrapped in waiting for my dad that I never cared about my mom and what she's done enough."

"Exactly. Don't you think she feels that you prefer your father to her? Don't you think she's hurt by how you push her away in favor of your dad?"

"I…"

"Listen to me, Tyler. Love your mother. Thank her for all she's done to care for you. If she didn't want you, you wouldn't be here. She isn't someone to push to the side. She should take center stage for you full time. When your father comes home, you _both_ can smother him in love all you want, but for now, you should smother your mother in love. She deserves it completely."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I made the mistake of not doing the same to my own mother." Troy told him in a dead serious tone.

"You couldn't have. You were with her until you were five."

"Yeah, but all the times I could've gone to Angel Grove and visit her grave every day just to say 'I love you' I didn't do. I didn't consider how important she really was to me other than simply being my mother. Even when she was alive I could've done it. If I had the chance to when I was younger, I would've hugged her and told her I loved her every second. Tyler, she's my everything."

"And my mother is…my everything." Tyler spoke slowly.

"Yep, she is." Troy smiled at him, releasing his successor's hand and sitting up. "I think you have someone you need to talk to at home."

"I sure do." Tyler got up out of the bed and waved goodbye to Troy, who also got up and waved goodbye. The two stepped out of the bedroom to see Kim finishing up her cleaning.

"You two looked like you had a good talk." Kim chuckled as she put the cleaning supplies away.

"We did. I'm gonna go now, Ms. Hart. Thank you for allowing me to come over and talk to you…and to Troy." Tyler smiled wide as he waved goodbye to the two neighbors and went to his home.

"Mom?" Tyler called.

"Yes?" Maria's voice came from the kitchen. She came out into the living room, her clothes stained with sauce. Then, quickly, Tyler tightly hugged her.

"_Mi hijo_, what's the matter?" She asked as she felt Tyler cry into her shoulder.

"I-I'm so sorry." He cried.

"For what?"

Tyler pulled away from her shoulder. "I should've paid more attention to you than to Dad's return. You're the greatest mom ever for and I'm sorry I didn't take the time to thank you and appreciate you for all you've done for me. I love you."

"Tyler, I love you too. I forgive you for everything."

"You do?"

"I do." Maria kissed his cheek lovingly before going back to the kitchen. Tyler smiled before joining her to help.

Meanwhile, Troy and Kim laid in the darkness of their room, the moonlight coming through the window. The night tuckered them out, but they were having trouble falling asleep.

"Hey, Kim?" Troy whispered.

"Yes, Troy?" Kim responded back.

"I just want to thank you for taking me in. Not a lot of families keep me with them for as long as you have."

"No problem, Troy. Besides, they don't love you like I do." Kim kissed his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Troy."

"I love you too, Kim. Good night." Troy yawned as both he and Kim finally fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**_5: Influenza_**

"I told you that we're doing the project my way!" Kendall argued, giving a nasty glare towards Shelby.

"Ms. Hart said that she wanted it done my way!" Shelby shot back, sending an equally nasty glare towards the Purple Ranger.

"She did not!"

"Yes she did!"

"GIRLS!" Tyler, Chase, and Riley shouted at them. The three boys got up out of their groups and moved their chairs to the Pink and Purple Rangers.

"Ladies, why're you fighting?" Chase asked them.

"The project Ms. Hart assigned was to write a narrative based on the book we're reading in class." Shelby snapped.

"Okay, but what's the problem?" Riley asked.

"I suggested that we write a perfectly supported essay to get the point of the project across." Kendall told him.

"I, instead, wanted to be creative and make a poster-board showing the different views in neatly drawn pictures. They say a picture's worth a thousand words." Shelby added.

"And that's a ridiculous idea. We're seniors in high school, not fifth graders."

"Who said we could lose creativity in projects?"

"My way is more efficient in getting a good grade."

"My way is better on the ears and eyes and can get us just as good a grade that your essay would get, maybe even better."

"We're doing my way!"

"No, we're doing my way!"

"Shelby, Kendall, hey!" Tyler called to them. They looked at him with a clenched expression. "You know what you guys should do?"

"What?" Both girls asked him.

"Compromise." Chase answered, knowing what Tyler was trying to say.

"Yeah, compromise!" Riley agreed. "If you girls compromise, or combine both of your ideas, then both of you will be satisfied with the end result of your project."

"Compromise? With _her_?" Kendall pointed at Shelby. "Not likely."

"Same to you." Shelby muttered angrily.

"C'mon, gals, just try it. I guarantee that you'll enjoy the result." Chase told them, smirking. "If worse comes to worst, you both do separate projects."

"Separate projects…Chase, that's genius!" Shelby complimented.

"Well, he finally has _one _good idea." Kendall teased, and Chase rolled his eyes. Hearing a clicking noise, the teens looked to see Kim gesturing their exit out of the classroom, and they followed her to the base.

But things were still bitter between Shelby and Kendall. The boys—and Kim—decided to split them apart, so Troy and Tommy offered to work with Shelby while Karone and Zhane took in Kendall.

"So tell me again—why are you on bad terms with Kendall?" Tommy asked Shelby.

"She doesn't agree on my idea for our project Kim assigned us." The Pink Ranger huffed, pouting.

"Which is…?"

"I wanted to create a poster with pictures on the topic, but _Kendall _wanted to write some big stupid essay for it."

"I think a poster is pretty creative, even though Kim teaches an English class." Troy stated, and that made Shelby blush lightly.

"You…y-you think so?"

"Well, yeah. A picture's worth a thousand words, and that's probably the same length as Kendall's idea. However, I think there should be one thing that you should do."

"What's that?" Shelby asked eagerly.

"Compromise with Kendall on your ideas. If you do that, then you could have something like her essay on a colorful and beautiful poster you designed. It'll be appealing to the class, Kim, and especially to the both of you."

"Oh, come on! You really think that compromising with Kendall is really the way to go?!"

"Of course." Tommy told her, agreeing with Troy. "One of the best ways teams work together is by compromise. Trust us, Shelby, if you combine your idea with Kendall's, then you'll both be satisfied."

All Shelby did was bite her bottom lip as she looked at the two men.

"…you guys sure that will work?" She then spoke.

"Yeah, of course. I'm sure." Troy told her before standing up. He seemed to be holding something in his hand. "I'll be right back. I'm going to give this to Hayley and Billy."

Tommy chuckled as he walked away, and then the veteran Ranger's eyes shifted to Shelby.

"You like him, don't you?" Tommy asked Shelby, who blushed harder than before.

"W-What? Who are you talking about?" She stuttered.

"I mean Troy. It's clear you have a crush on him." Tommy sighed, leaning back into his chair. "Troy is some guy, huh. Incredibly handsome, kind, helpful, pretty smart…no wonder you fell in love with him."

"What are you saying now, old man?" Shelby asked, and that seemed to perk Tommy up.

"Okay, first of all, I am _not _old. And secondly…" Tommy took a deep breath. "…I want to be on Troy's good side."

"Why?"

"You see, I'm in love with Kim, and she loves Troy."

"Your point?"

"If I do something that would hurt or emotionally scar Troy—not like he hasn't been scarred already—I would make Kim super upset with me. That's something I don't want to happen, especially after not seeing her for a while."

"So your plan is to win Troy over, and you'll win Kim over more?"

"Well, yes and no. I also want to be there for Troy, like a father figure to him. He's never met his real father, he lost his real mother at a young age, and all of the foster families he's been through weren't happy with him. He got lucky having Kim as his foster parent, and growing up…let's just say he never had an _appropriate_ father figure."

Shelby cringed.

"Yeah, exactly. I want to be the guy to fill that void for Troy."

"Oh, now I get it." Shelby commented. "So…why did you and Kim break up?"

"Um…that's classified."

All Shelby did was chuckle as Troy came back. He saw her laugh and he looked at Tommy.

"What'd I miss?"

"Oh, nothing much." Tommy winked at Shelby, who laughed harder.

.

"Oh, really?" Zhane spoke into the phone. "Ashley, that's great! You and Andros must be very excited, and I'm sure little Aaron would love a sibling." Nearby, Karone and Kendall

"So what was it you wanted to talk about, Kendall?" Karone asked the Purple Ranger.

"My idea for a project Kimberly assigned our class." Kendall told her. "We have to do a project on some topic she assigned, and my idea was to write an essay."

"That sounds pretty good. It'll be a way to prepare you for college and it'll expand your vocabulary…or so I've been told." Karone smiled. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Shelby wants to create a poster on the topic. I think that's a pretty idiotic idea considering we're seniors in high school."

"Well…" Karone began before she noticed Zhane come towards them. "So, who was on the phone?"

"Ashley. She and Andros expecting a second child."

"Really? That's great! I'll be an aunt to two little kids!" Karone clapped before both former Rangers heard Kendall cough on purpose.

"Oh, right. Kendall, I'm pretty sure you've heard it a million times, but _compromise_ with Shelby on your ideas."

"Why?!"

"You'll both have a little bit of what you wanted for the project, and having a little bit of both is better than having one thing and not the other."

Kendall sighed and rubbed her head. "Are you sure that combining ideas with Shelby is the way to go?"

"Positive." Zhane answered for Karone. Then, the alert system for the base went off.

"I think that's for you." Zhane pointed to Kim, Tyler, Koda, Chase, Riley, and Shelby, who gave Kendall some kind of look. The Purple Ranger nodded to her fellow teammates and joined them as they teleported to the battlefield.

.

"Hmm, hmm, who should go first?!" A monster decorated in dark green and violet dots asked as he skipped around the plaza of Amber Beach. Civilians spotted him and immediately started fleeing, but a few were unlucky as Vivixs restrained them and allowed the monster to blast them with his power. He shot one person in the abdomen, and she clutched it as she fell to the ground, the Vivixs releasing their hold on her. She then became sicker than a dog, laying there with the monster's infection coursing through her veins.

Then, the seven Rangers arrived at the scene to see a few more people fall to the ground, sick.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked as he caught a man who was falling down. Tyler did the same with a woman nearby.

"What in the world? Who is doing this?" Chase asked, rubbing the back of his helmet.

"Over there!" Koda shouted, pointing to their target.

"Who, me?" The monster asked shyly. "Not me, I haven't done a thing!"

"Oh, don't be like that!" The Rangers heard a female voice squeal. Then, a female monster came out of her hiding spot. Her head wore a sort of pink heart headdress, and pink hearts seemed to decorate most of her body. Her face had plastered on a grin, and her giggle sent a shiver down the Rangers' spine.

"Hello there, Rangers!" She waved. "It's so very nice to meet you!"

"Who are you?" Tyler asked.

"I am Poisandra, a member of Sledge's bounty group and Sledge's fiancée!"

"Fiancée?" Shelby asked, surprised.

"That's right, Pinky! Oh, but you wouldn't know anything about love, would you?" Poisandra laughed, pointing at Shelby.

"What…Shelby, what is she talking about?" Tyler asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you know plenty about love."

"Wrong, Red." Poisandra pointed out in a melodic voice. "It seems like Pinky's been harboring a crush on someone you work with closely. It's only a shame that her feelings are based on nothing but appearance."

"Says you." Shelby snapped, her voice gently being caught in a lump in her throat. "You only decided to marry Sledge based on appearance too! I'll bet he isn't even that pretty!"

"How dare you!" Poisandra shouted in anger.

"What do you want to do, Poisandra?" The monster asked.

"Illvect, take on the Rangers. Pinky's mine to fight." The monster commanded as she charged at Shelby, who equipped her Tricera Drill. As they strayed not too far from the battlefield, the other six fought Illvect.

"What have you done to these innocent people?" Riley asked as he held one of the monster's arms, Chase holding the other.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Illvect told him. "All I did was infect people."

"That's exactly the answer we're looking for!" Chase told the monster as both the Green and Black Ranger kicked him back.

Then, it was Tyler and Koda's turn as they equipped their blasters and fired at point blank range, hitting Illvect's chest.

Lastly, Kendall and Kim finished up with a dual strike to the monster's chest with their blades. Illvect fell onto his back, and Vivixs surrounded him for protection.

"Oh, get out of my way!" Illvect hissed as he destroyed all of the Vivix soldiers around him. The Rangers were taken aback.

"He destroyed the Vivixs? But why?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe he thinks he's strong enough to take us on without help." Chase told him.

"Correct you are, Black Ranger!" Illvect laughed as he fired six beams at the Rangers. Kendall was lucky to dodge the beam coming at her, but unfortunately for the other five Rangers, they all were struck. Demorphing, Kim, Tyler, Chase, Riley, and Koda all fell to the ground and became as ill as the civilians nearby. Kendall, in fear, ran to them and checked on them all.

"Are you okay?" She asked them. "Are you alright?"

Meanwhile, Shelby seemed to be neck and neck with Poisandra in their battle.

"You're good, Pink Ranger." Poisandra remarked. "You might even be on par with me!"

"How about better?" Shelby mocked as she kicked Poisandra in the chest, making the monster stumble back.

"Ugh…that hurt."

"It should."

"Oh, ha-ha. You think you're so tough, but once I figure you out, you'll break."

"Good luck with that. I'm an open book!" Shelby taunted.

"Really? What about that Ranger you like?"

Shelby gulped. "Uh…"

"Thought so. Pinky, take my advice and just ask him out. You'll get that out of the way by the time I destroy you next, right?"

"Yeah, like you'll destroy me."

"Maybe not you, but surely your..."

"Poisandra, we must retreat!" Illvect ran to the female monster, and Shelby had her blaster ready.

"Oh, well, I guess this is goodbye, Pink Ranger. Toodles!" Poisandra waved as she and Illvect teleported away.

"Ugh, that witch is gonna go down." Shelby grunted before she heard her name being called by Kendall.

"What's the—what happened?" Shelby asked as she ran to her teammate's aid.

"The monster got them all sick. We need to contact Billy and teleport them back to the base." Kendall hastily spoke as she checked over the ailing Rangers.

"On it." Shelby told her, pulling out her Dino Com. "Billy, do you read me?"

"_Read you loud and clear, Shelby. What's the problem?_"

"Tyler, Riley, Chase, Koda, and Kim have been infected by the monster we faced today. We need an emergency teleport for them."

"_Roger that._" The five Rangers then disappeared, leaving Kendall and Shelby alone together, to which both girls demorphed.

Kendall sighed. "We should get back to the base."

"Yeah, we should." Shelby agreed as the two ran towards the high school. From behind a tree, a monster with sad-looking face and metallic structure watched the two run off.

"Interesting…" It commented in a quivering voice as it trailed behind the females.

.

"How in the world did this happen?" Rocky asked as he and the others watched the five sick Rangers.

"Er…" Kendall bit her bottom lip. "We managed to get the monster on his back, but just as we got right him where we wanted him, he attacked and got them all sick. I managed to get out of the way, but I couldn't help any of them."

"I see." Billy commented as he joined Hayley at the computer, Kendall walking off somewhere in the base to contemplate. As they worked, Karone, Zhane, Zack, Jason, Rocky, and Tommy went into the confined space for the Rangers to check on them. That left Troy and Shelby.

_Pinky, take my advice and just ask him out. _Shelby thought to herself, remembering what Poisandra told him.

"Um, Troy…" Shelby asked, stuttering.

"Hmm? Yeah, what is it? Something bothering you?" Troy asked back in response, his attention on her.

"I want to ask you something, and it's super important that you listen to me."

"I'm all ears for you, Shelby. Go ahead and ask."

"Uh, well…"

"Troy!" Hayley called.

"Yeah?" Troy shouted back.

"Could we get you help over here?"

"Sure thing! One second!" Troy then looked back at Shelby. "Can you hold your thought for a bit?"

"Oh, sure." Shelby told him as Troy walked over to Hayley and Billy. Kendal then pulled Shelby over to her spot of contemplation.

"Can we talk?" The Purple Ranger asked.

"What about?"

"Ideas to take down the monster." Kendall told her.

"What have you got?"

"Well…maybe we should create a diversion. We both lead him down two paths of distraction so that he'll be confused when we attack with our blasters."

"I'll do you one better." Shelby told Kendall. "We go full force on him, all-out attacks to immobilize him and we finish with a combo move."

"That's a pretty good…way to get us both killed."

"Oh come on! Creating a distraction is like fleeing!"

"You may think that—what are we doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Here we are, arguing like toddlers, when the others are telling us to compromise." Kendall shook her head. "I can't believe we ignored them like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Shelby sighed. "So what do we do now?"

"Shelby, Kendall! The monster's back!" The ladies heard Hayley shout.

Kendall smirked and pulled Shelby in close.

"I've got the perfect plan."

.

"Over there!" Shelby pointed towards Illvect, who seemed to be unaccompanied as of the moment.

"Oh, good. You both—hey, where's Purple?" Illvect spoke stoically. "Now to finish you off!"

"Not a chance." Shelby shouted at him, pulling out her Tricera Drill. She ran at him and landed small blows, but the pink of her spandex seemed to blind Illvect.

"Now!" Shelby called, and Illvect felt strong blasts strike his body. Then, his vision cleared to see both the Pink and Purple Ranger standing next to one another.

"Nice shooting." Shelby complimented.

"Thanks. Great distraction." Kendall added.

"What? How did you do that?!" Illvect asked.

"By compromising our ideas, we were able to create the perfect plan to attack you." Kendall stated sternly.

"And now it's time to finish you!" Shelby followed up as the girls double-kicked the monster backwards. They both then equipped their blasters and fired before charging up for their final strike.

"Whoa, no! This isn't good!"

"It sure isn't!" Shelby shouted.

"And it's time to save all of the people from what you did to them!" Kendall finished as the girls combined their power for a Plesio-Tricera final strike. They turned their back to Illvect as he exploded right behind them.

Soon enough, he was enlarged after death, to which both girls turned to look up at him.

"I'll infect you all! I'll make you feel my wrath!"

"Ready to take him down?" Shelby asked, holding her Tricera Zord Charger.

"I'm ready if you are." Kendall told her as she held her Plesio Zord Charger. Both girls were in their Zords as they took down Illvect for good.

Just Billy and Hayley watched the monster go down, Kim, Chase, Koda, Riley, and Tyler began to get up from their beds and walk around before cheering that the infection was gone for good.

That was when both Shelby and Kendall walked back into the base. They boys on their team all hugged them, and Kim gave them both a thumbs-up. Out of the corner of Shelby's eye, she swore she saw Troy with a wide smile on his face.

"Great job, you two! How'd you beat him?" Tyler asked.

Shelby wrapped an arm around Kendall's shoulder. "Through the power of compromise."

"Oh, and speaking of which, we have a project to complete." Kendall reminded her before stopping herself. "And I'm eager to see that poster board."

All Shelby did was smile and pull Kendall along with her to a corner in the base to begin, with some supplies, courtesy of Hayley.

"Glad to see these two have worked this out." Riley commented.

"I agree. Ladies fighting is a big no-no in my book." Chase laughed, which gained a look from Tyler and Riley.

"Yes, but don't you three have a project to work on as well?" Kim asked, and the boys, taking Koda with them, rushed to a corner and got to work.

.

"Kendall!" Shelby called as the Purple Ranger was walking home.

"Shelby? What is it?" Kendall answered as both girls walked together.

"I'm glad we were able to compromise on our project. Who knew an essay on a colorful poster would catch so many eyes of approval?"

"I agree. I'm glad Ms. Hart accepted the project with open arms, and with a good grade."

Shelby chuckled. "Yeah. You know, maybe we could become closer as friends…?"

"I definitely agree." Kendall nodded and smiled. The girls laughed as they walked in the setting sun, the sky showing of clear line of orange, pink, and violet. Then, Shelby fell silent, which raised concern in Kendall.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh…yeah. I'm just thinking back to my fight with Poisandra. She knew about…"

"…knew about what?"

"Uh, well I…"

"Shelby." Kendall's voice was close to a whisper. "If it's about your crush, I've known."

"You know?!" Shelby's face turned the color of Tyler's spandex.

"You can thank Chase for that. So what did Poisandra say?"

"Oh…" Shelby's blush died down. "She told me to ask him out, and I was close to doing it."

"Really." Kendall tapped her chin before smiling. "Come with me."

"What? Why?"

"You'll see."

.

The light in the sky became twilight, and both Kendall and Shelby were walking towards the apartment that Kim and Troy lived in. After a complete makeover, Shelby, courtesy of Kendall, was completely dolled up. Her hair was tied back into a neat ponytail and she wore a clean pink dress with matching sandals. To Kendall, she looked eye-catching. To Shelby herself, she looked hideous.

"Tell me again; why am I wearing this?" Shelby asked the Purple Ranger.

"You want to ask out Troy?"

"Yeah."

"Then this is the way to do it." Kendall patted Shelby on the back as they climbed up their fifth flight of stairs, reaching the floor that Kim and Troy—along with Tyler despite them not knowing this—lived on.

"Here we are. Kim and Troy's apartment." Kendall told Shelby before hiding behind a nearby corner. "You can thank Billy for the address." Kendall then shouted.

"Well, here goes nothing." Shelby whispered to herself as she knocked on the large metal door.

The one who answered was Troy.

"Oh, Shelby, hi." He greeted. "Great outfit, by the way. You look really cute."

"Um, thanks." Shelby blushed.

"Was there something you needed?"

"Oh, yeah…I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh! That's right! I'm so sorry that I couldn't get back to you on your question! Is this what you wanted to ask me?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Then I'm ready for your question. Ask away, Shelby."

"Okay." Shelby took a deep breath. "Wow, okay…um…Troy Burrows."

"Yes?"

"Would you…go on a date with me?" Shelby tightly shut her eyes, waiting for Troy to reject her. For a few minutes, she heard nothing.

Until she heard someone breathe. It was Troy.

"…Yes."

"What?" Shelby asked, opening her eyes.

"I'm saying yes, Shelby Watkins, I will go on a date with you." Troy smiled at the Pink Ranger, who smiled back.

"Wow, thanks, I…can't believe this is happening."

Troy chuckled. "But…why did you ask so early?"

"Let's just say…I'm a go-getter." Shelby smirked as she spoke coolly.

"Ah. So…when do you want to go out?"

"Uh, maybe in a few days. I don't really have any time in mind right now."

"Oh, but when you have one, be sure to tell me, okay?" Troy told her as he kissed Shelby's cheek gently before waving goodbye to her and shutting the door.

Then, Kendall walked to her calmly. Shelby, in response, wrapped her arms around Kendall tightly and screamed in joy.

"See, what did I tell you?" Kendall stated in happiness, sharing the same amount of joy that Shelby was feeling at the moment.

"Kendall, thank you so much! I won't forget this!" The two girls continued to laugh loudly as they left the area.

"What was that?" Kim asked as she sat on the couch. She looked at Troy, who was leaning against the door.

"Just our two new female Rangers sharing a moment." Troy told her with a smirk.

"So why did Shelby come over exactly?"

"To ask me out." That made Kim choke on her water a bit.

"Shelby."

"Yep."

"Asked _you_ out on a date?"

"Hey, don't doubt my looks! I'm pretty in my own right." Troy huffed as he plopped down onto the couch next to Kim.

"Yes, yes you are." Kim smiled, kissing his cheek lovingly and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"So you and Shelby will be a 'thing'?" Kim asked a few minutes later.

"Like you and Tommy?" Troy asked, taunting her.

"Yes, like me and Tommy. I could already think of a ship name for you."

"Kim, no, please don't do that." Troy sighed. "Or I'll do it for you."

"Teenagers." Kim rolled her eyes as she and Troy watched the TV to drown out the common noise of the outside world that seemed to vibrate through the walls.

**A/N: Wow…this was pretty episode-like for what I was going for, but oh well. Now, we have the start of a main ship, Troy/Shelby, and a rivalry between Poisandra and Shelby. And Wrench appeared too! It's only a matter of time before Fury, Sledge, and Curio (that puppet guy that's with Poisandra a lot) appear as well. I hope this is a good sign of what's to come, and as of now, this is the longest chapter I've written so far. Hope you're all enjoying it so far! : ) **


	6. Chapter 6

**_6: Around The City In Four Places_**

"_Kim! Kim!_" Billy's voice blared in her ears as she picked up the phone.

"What is it, Billy? It's the middle of the night." Kim groaned.

"_I need you and Troy over at the base pronto! Something terrible has happened! Hurry!_" Billy told her as the line went dead. Reaching over to put the phone down, Kim turned over and gently shook Troy awake. The male groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Troy, they want us over at the base. Billy told me something happened over there. It's urgent." Kim told him. Troy merely groaned as he sat up. Throwing Kim her robe and putting on his own, the two made their way out of the apartment and for the high school.

When they arrived at the base, they noticed that Koda, Jason, Zack, Zhane, and Tommy were fixing a huge hole in the wall while the others stood nearby. Shelby ran to Troy and hugged him, making him stumble back a bit.

"What happened?" Kim asked as she approached Billy and Hayley.

"Someone broke in and stole the Gold, Aqua, Graphite, and Silver Energem!" Hayley breathed out in shock. Troy and Kim looked at Hayley in disbelief.

"…_What?_" Troy asked with an edge.

"That…no way! Who could've broken in at the dead of night to try and steal the remaining Energems?" Kim asked.

"They think it was one of the aliens that's a part of Sledge's crew." Chase chimed in as the wall was fixed. Everyone then stood in a circle as they tried to understand what was going on at the moment.

"So, from our understanding, someone broke in and snatched four Energems, and they broke in with the use of a bomb to the side of the base?" Riley asked.

"Right, and we don't know who the intruder is and why they would want the Energems." Billy responded.

"Nevertheless how someone managed to find the Energems." Hayley added. Kim sighed and looked around before her eye caught a camera that was perched on a column in the base.

"Hey, Hayley, did you ever see the camera here?" Kim asked, to which everyone looked and made quiet sounds of amazement.

"No…I didn't…" Hayley then spoke before going to the computer and pulling up the camera's footage. Everyone crowded around and watched as the footage began. They saw the wall being blown to bits as a strange alien stepped inside of the base, holding a weapon.

"That's Wrench, a member of Sledge's elite crew." Hayley told the others as their eyes were still glued to the screen. Wrench walked over to the main lab area and broke open the safe hold for the four Energems, sliding them all into a wooden crate. He turned around to see a silhouette of a human being (who it was became a mystery to both him and the Rangers). He or she had a pool shark accent as they tried to swipe the Energems from Wrench. The alien raised his weapon before being tackled by the figure, who secured the Energems before making their escape, Wrench running after him. The footage then ended there.

"It was one of Sledge's men!" Shelby declared.

"Yeah, but someone else came in and stole them from him." Kendall pointed out. "…Who was that? Who could just stumble upon that instantly?"

"I have no idea." Tommy responded, rubbing his chin. "Maybe we should check for any Energem signatures."

"Great idea." Billy complimented as he ran to the computer and checked the area of Amber Beach for any signatures. He hollered for the others to come as he found the answer.

"What'd you find?" Kim asked.

"They're still here in Amber Beach…"

"And?"

"…their locations are unknown." Everyone groaned.

"How can we find them now?" Tyler asked.

"I do not know." Koda replied. Tommy looked dejectedly at everyone.

"Come on, don't be like this! We can find them before Sledge does!" He encouraged.

'Tommy, they're in an unknown location. Anyone can find them!" Troy argued. The two men then marched up to one another and butted heads.

"That doesn't mean we can't try and find them!"

"We don't have the energy to! Don't you know what time it is?!"

"STOP!" Kim cried as she stood right between them. 'I don't need the two boys I care about most in my life arguing like this!" She sighed as they backed down before turning to Tommy. "Troy's right though, Tommy. We're in no condition to go looking for the Energems at this time of night."

"But Kim…"

"Tommy, go home and get some rest. We're all doing the same." Tommy looked to see the other current and former Ranger leave the base as Koda fell asleep in his small corner that blocked off sound and view of anything in the base. Kim then took Troy's hand and held it tight as the two walked out of the base, leaving Tommy alone. He sighed as he walked out as well, running a hand through his messy hair.

_People just don't understand what I try to do anymore._

His thoughts shifted over to Troy and Kim. How could Kim side with her son when he's not even her real son? Well, that question already had an answer.

_But still…how could she side with Troy over me? Now I'm starting to think that bonding with Troy and being his father figure won't work out so well…_ Tommy thought to himself as he found himself on the road of Kim's apartment. With nowhere better to be, he went towards her place of residence and knocked on the door. The one who answered was Troy, and he looked exhausted and upset that he was woken up once more.

Just his luck.

"What do you want?" Troy snapped.

"I want to…apologize for my hastiness. It was wrong of me to think that I could get everyone to look for the missing Energems, and I'm sorry."

"Hmph. You think you'll get my apology by brooding? Not working."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"…Fine." Troy huffed, crossing his arms. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Well, I came to apologize, and I was wondering if I could stay here for the night. Is that okay?"

"…Sure." Tommy then walked in as he looked around at the run-down apartment in the darkness. He was about to speak before troy put a finger to his lips.

"Why?" Tommy whispered.

"Kim's asleep, and I don't need anything waking her up." Troy answered in a whisper.

"Oh, well, maybe I should check up on her…briefly." Tommy then felt a blanket hit him. He picked it up and looked at an angered Troy.

"Don't. You. Dare. Try. That." He snapped aggressively. "You're sleeping on the couch, and I'll make sure to get you out of here before Kim wakes up the next day."

"Fine." Tommy muttered as he laid down on the couch and covered himself in the blanket. Troy had one foot in the bedroom door before looking back at Tommy.

"Oh, and Tommy?" He softly asked.

"Yeah?"

"…if there comes a time where something happens and I can't be there for Kim, promise me you'll protect her."

"What exactly are you trying to tell me, Troy?"

"I…just feel like something's gonna happen down the road, something _big_. I don't know what it is, who's involved in it, or when it will happen, but if it does happen, promise me you'll protect Kim with your soul."

"Those prophetic dreams coming back to you again?" Tommy joked.

"Tommy, I'm being serious! Please, just promise me!" Troy shout-whispered in concern.

"Okay, okay, I promise I'll protect Kim."

"Thanks." Troy smiled before gently shutting the door behind him. Staring up into the darkness, Tommy smiled warmly before turning on his side and letting his eyes gently flutter.

_You know, things might just work out after all… _Tommy thought as he shut his eyes and fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7: Trace_**

"You still haven't found anything?" Tommy asked Billy as the veteran Rangers were in the base. They decided to spend the monster-less day looking for the person who stole and subsequently lost four Energems.

"No, I haven't found anything, Tommy. Whoever did this left nothing behind." Billy sighed, rubbing his head. "Besides, we still have to find and recover four other Energems."

"Make it three." Hayley stated. "The Aqua Energem is off of the map. And it looks to be two now because I'm losing trace of the Gold Energem."

"So we're gonna have an Aqua and Gold Power Ranger soon." Jason commented. "Hopefully they come in peace."

"I'm sure they're teenagers like the Dino Charge…well, excluding Kim." Hayley stated. "Hey, speaking of which, where is she?"

"She and Troy went to the airport. Apparently a family member of Kim's is coming into town." Zack replied. "Kim is going to bring her by later, to see if maybe she could help us because she mentioned that her family member has something you may want to look at."

"Oh, joy."

.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Troy asked, his hand in his jacket pockets. The air was cold in Amber Beach to celebrate the start of winter, and while Troy was 'freezing his butt off', Kim seemed to be unfazed.

"Stop whining, Troy. It's just cold air." Kim would tell him whenever his whines became unbearable.

"Stop whining? I think he's got every right to!"

"Tracey!" Kim cheered as her adopted cousin walked into the airport. She ran into the woman's arms hugging her tightly. "So great to see you!"

"Same here!" Tracey smiled as she looked over at Troy. "Ooh, who's the cute guy?"

"That's my son, Troy. Troy, this is Tracey, my adopted cousin." Kim gestured to both people.

"Nice to meet ya, Troy." Tracey outstretched her hand.

"Same." Troy smiled as he took it. When he did, he felt something cloud over his eyes. He saw a woman in a suit that resembled the Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger's suit…the only thing different was that the color of the suit was white with pink triangles that was in the place of the white diamonds. Her helmet completely resembled Pink Dino Charge's and she seemed to be holding a blaster that resembled the Stegosaurus. She fired at the seven Dino Charge Rangers as they demorphed due to the brutal blast. The vision then disappeared as her laugh rung in Troy's ears.

"Aah!" Troy let go of Tracey's hand and stumbled backwards, Kim catching him.

"Troy, are you okay?! Is everything alright?!" Kim asked frantically.

"Yeah, you okay?" Tracey leaned down to help Troy, but seeing her hand caused Troy to backwards crabwalk away from both Kim and Tracey.

"Stay back!" Troy screamed as he then pulled out his Dragon Sword from his Megaforce spandex. "Stay away!"

"Troy, what is going on with you?" Kim asked, shaking her head.

"It's not me, it's her!" Troy kept the end of the sword pointed at Tracey. "She…she has a power…and it's evil! I saw it! She was blasting you and the others with her weapon and you demorphed!"

"What a lunatic." Tracey muttered. "This is the kid you adopted, Kim?"

"Yes, and I love him, but…he never acts like that." Kim stated, looking at Troy. She turned her attention to Tracey. "Why don't we go to my place and talk there?"

"Whatever suits you." Tracey told Kim as the woman persuades her adopted son to put away his weapon and to get to his feet. Holding his hand, Kim also took Tracey's hand as she led them back to their apartment.

.

"So is he tame now?" Tracey asked as Kim came out of the bedroom. The woman sat down next to her adopted cousin.

"More or less. He couldn't calm down so I gave him some medication I had that relieves me of things. Next thing I knew was that Troy was out like a light. I'm really sorry about him. He's never been like that."

"I would think so. You raised him." Kim looked at Tracey with a confused face.

"What?"

"What guy knocked you up so that you could have that handsome devil of a son?"

"Oh, he's not my son. I adopted him."

"At what age?"

"Sixteen."

"Huh." Tracey commented, leaning back against the couch. "You got lucky. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd have an underage boyfriend. How old is Troy anyway?"

"Nineteen. He goes to Amber Beach University."

"Cool." Tracey blew strands of dark hair out of her face.

"So…how have you been?"

"I…" Tracey was cut off by the sound of something alien. "Oh, I need to go. I'd hate to leave you now, but I need to go."

"Hey, whatever you need to do is what you need to do." Kim waved Tracey off before troy came out of the bedroom holding Kim's morpher a short while after Tracey left.

"There's trouble."

.

"This is where Billy said the villain is." Tyler told his team. He, Koda, Riley, Chase, Kendall, and Shelby were sent to Amber Beach's plaza on the accounts of a monster's appearance.

"Where is the monster?" Shelby asked.

"Monster? Do you really think I look like one?" The six Rangers looked to see a mysterious Pink Ranger walk towards them. She held a blaster in one hand and her other hand swung freely in the air.

"Who are you?" Riley asked.

"Not important. Just know I'm sending you Sledge's regards." She rose the blaster and hit the six teenagers in the chest, sending them flying backwards.

"Too easy." The Pink Ranger laughed before aiming her blaster at Tyler first. The five other Rangers called his name in fear.

"Any last words before I destroy you and take the Energem, Red?" The Ranger asked.

"Hold it right there!" A familiar voice shouted as two power blasts strike the Pink Ranger, sending her away from Tyler. It was Kim…and a mysterious Red Ranger with a large golden symbol on his chest.

"You guys okay?" Kim asked as she helped Chase and Riley up.

"Y-Yeah." Kendall stuttered as the Red Ranger got her, Tyler, and Shelby to their feet. "Thanks for helping us up, but who are you?"

"You guys don't know me? Did I not introduce myself well enough when we first met?" The Ranger asked. "If anything, Shelby should've pointed me out."

"I should've?" Shelby pointed at herself before realizing who the Red Ranger was. "TROY!"

"I knew it." Troy spoke as Shelby hugged him tightly. The other five crowded around him.

"Cool suit, dude, but why are you here?" Chase asked Troy.

"I figured I'd join you guys since it's a distance from here to the base. Besides, I miss being in action." Troy replied before feeling Riley smack his arm playfully.

"Well, it's great to have your assistance, Troy."

"New…Ranger…teammate?" Koda asked, coming up to Troy eagerly.

"Not exactly, big guy."

"Hey!" The eight Rangers looked back at the Pink Ranger. "Did you guys forget about me?"

"Nope." Tyler told her. "We were just thinking about you."

"Yeah right. Now, while you were all getting along, I managed to get this." The Ranger all gasped when they saw the Silver Energem in her hand.

"No way! She has an Energem!" Shelby gasped.

"Hey, that doesn't belong to you!" Riley yelled.

"No, but it surely belongs to Sledge. And that's where I'm going." As she turned her back, Troy took out his blaster and shot at the Ranger's hand, and the burn of the blast knocked the Silver Energem out of her hand and into the sewer nearby.

"No!" The villain cried out.

"Good going, Troy!" Kim slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Even though it'll be lost again, at least Sledge can't get it."

"That's the plan." Troy told her as the Ranger looked at the Rangers angrily.

"Okay, now you've officially pissed me off!" She screamed as she equipped her blaster and shot at everyone but Troy, who dodged his bullet. The seven main Rangers demorphed, and seeing this, Troy held his Dragon Sword and ran at the Pink Ranger.

"You're going down!" Troy shouted. The Ranger said nothing and teleported away before Troy could have a chance to attack. In his spot, he demorphed and ran to help Kim, Shelby, Tyler, Kendall, Chase, Riley, and Koda to their feet.

"She got away." Tyler grunted. "And she was stupid tough."

"Yeah. And her devotion to Sledge…what do you think he could be up to by having this Ranger swear allegiance to him?" Riley asked.

"I don't know, but what I can tell you is that she wasn't a member of the Dino Thunder Team." Troy told the six kids.

"What?!" They all gasped in shock.

"He's right." Kim added. "There were only five members; Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and White, who was male. The Red Ranger, Conner McKnight, is playing soccer professionally. The Blue Ranger, Ethan James, is working for an elite company. The Yellow and White Rangers, Kira Ford and Trent Fernandez-Mercer, are a couple and are on a world tour due to Kira's singing career. The Black Ranger is Tommy, and you know what he's doing."

"So it could be Kira…?" Riley speculated.

"Not possible. Kira has been in Tokyo, and she still is." Troy told him.

"How do you know?"

"My friend Gia is a fan of her, and she told me after I contacted her."

"Is Gia…Megaforce Yellow?" Kendall asked.

"Correct, Miss Morgan." Troy winked, to which Shelby pretended that she didn't see him do the action.

"So…is this 'Gia' cute?" Chase asked smugly.

"Yeah, but she's taken. She's dating my friend Jake, who's Megaforce Black. Noah, Megaforce Blue, and Emma, Megaforce Pink, also started going out from what she told me."

"Didn't you guys have an alien Silver Ranger? Where's he?"

"Gia said he went back to his home planet, Andresia." Troy told Chase meekly.

"Oh." The Black Ranger looked down slightly before Riley patted his shoulder, smiling. The Green Ranger then pulled Chase by his wrist, to which everyone else followed him back to the base. There, Billy and Hayley were a giddy mess.

"Do you know who you just battled?!" Hayley asked the eight people the second they all stepped into the base.

"Yeah, an evil Ranger." Shelby replied.

"No! You battled the person who stole the Energems from Wrench and lost them!"

.

"You failed me!" Sledge, a large monster decorated with brown armor on his green body, shouted slamming his fist down against his throne.

"I apologize for the incompetence, Master Sledge." A woman sat on her knees as she looked down in shame.

"That's not going to work anymore!" Sledge threw his cup of wine at the wall, which startled the nearby Curio and Wrench. "I can't accept this failure from any of you!"

"Oh, Sledgey-poo, calm down. Everything will come to you, you just need to be patient." Poisandra laid a hand on his shoulder, to which Sledge simply grunted and calmed down.

"Oh, please." The woman turned to see a red monster with a tiger skin skirt grunt behind her.

"Cool it, Fury." She snapped. "Let Poisandra do her thing and you do yours." The monster simply looked away from her.

"Now!" Sledge commanded the woman's attention, and she jumped slightly. "I will give you one last chance, but if you fail me, the deal is off."

"I understand, Master Sledge."

"You should. I'm sure your children are precious to you, and to see me cut the cord on them would hurt, would it not?"

"It would, considering you were the one who killed their father…my husband."

"Don't remind me. It brings too much back." Sledge teased, to which the woman rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Keep them alive and I'll do what you say." The woman snapped coldly.

"I'm glad we're at an agreement…" Sledge laughed slightly. "…Tracey."


	8. Chapter 8

**_Chapter 8: Rivalry_**

"The monster should be around here somewhere…" Riley told Tyler, Shelby, Chase, Koda, Kendall, and Kimberly as the team searched for the thing that made the alarm system go off.

"Well, I don't see any monster." Chase quipped at the Green Ranger.

"You know, Chase, it could be that mystery Pink Ranger from before." Tyler told the Black Ranger to shut him up. Chase shook his head and grunted.

"Yeah, sure." As he spoke, Shelby then looked around and thought to herself.

"Hey, Kim?" Shelby asked.

"Yes, Shelby? What's the problem?" Kim asked back.

"Where's Troy? He said he'd join us for this…"

"He went back to my apartment since he fell ill. My cousin should be watching over him now…" Kim told Shelby, who seemed to be a bit disappointed that Troy wasn't fighting alongside them.

"Why are you worried for your friend when you should worry about yourselves?" A voice asked as multiple power blasts came at the seven Rangers, sending the back and against the asphalt. Looking up from their spot on the ground, the Rangers saw a monster that was colored red and gold with the appearance of a wild dog. He wore an animal print around his waist that billowed in the wind. Next to him was the same Pink Ranger the team faced before.

"Who…are you?" Tyler asked, pointing at the mysterious monster.

"The name is Fury, Red Ranger." The monster hissed. "And I'll ask you Rangers again; why are you worrying about your friend?"

"Why do you care?" Chase asked.

"Because you should be worrying even more." Fury laughed before turning to the evil Pink Ranger next to him. "Right, Pinky?"

"Right." The Pink Ranger nodded before giggling in an evil manner. "As we speak, your Red Ranger ally is being carried off to Sledge's ship!"

"NO!" Kim and Shelby gasped in horror. Kendall, Riley, and Chase sighed in anguish and shook their head, while Koda seemed to be saddened and hugged the Purple, Green, and Black Rangers for comfort.

Tyler, on the other hand, was enraged. He equipped his Dino Saber and charged at Fury, who was equipped with his own sword.

"You just think you can come in and try to land a blow on me?" Fury asked Tyler, taunting him. "How enraging!"

"Really? Maybe this will put out your angry flames!" Tyler shouted as he then shot quick blasts at Fury's chest, which hit successfully. From the smoke came Tyler, running at Fury with his T-Rex Smasher.

"Hey!" Riley shouted at his teammates, who were absorbed in watching the battle between Tyler and Fury. "Maybe we should help!"

"There's no need to!" Tyler faintly shouted to his teammates. "Focus on the Pink Ranger! I'll be fine!"

"He's right!" The Pink Ranger shouted as she fired a pink blast at the other six Rangers.

"Stego Shield!" Koda shouted as he equipped the item and deflected the blast.

"Thanks Koda!" Kim slapped the caveman's shoulder. "Now, let's take her out!"

"Not so simple! Vivixs, attack the Rangers! Leave the Pink and Yellow ones to me!" The mystery Pink Ranger commanded as the green and white foot soldiers charged at Chase, Koda, Riley, and Kendall, ignoring Kimberly and Shelby.

"Come at me, ladies!" The Pink Ranger quipped at Kim and Shelby.

"Ugh, she's driving me crazy!" Shelby grunted as she equipped her Tricera Drill. "Let's finish her and then we can try and rescue Troy."

"Right." Kim agreed, equipping her special weapon, two Sabertooth Claws that she held in both hands. The ladies took their stance before charging at the evil Pink Ranger head-on. Equipping her special weapon, a unique Stego Blaster, the opponent Pink fired two shots at Kim and Shelby.

"Tricera Drill!" Shelby shouted as the drill cut though the two blasts. "Nice try, Pink Ranger, but we won't go down that easily!"

"Funny considering you destroyed the blasts and…" Suddenly, two more shots were fired and they struck Kim and Shelby on the side of their helmets. The girls held their helmets as their gloved fingers felt the large crack left behind.

"My, are we worried about our headgear?" The villain Ranger laughed as she aimed her blaster at Kim and Shelby. "How about I fix that problem?"

Then, ricochets of power blasts came at the girls, and they tried to deflect them all as best they could. Remnants of the blasts roughly struck the helmets until two larger blasts came at the girls' heads, completely shattering the helmets from the suits. With their heads exposed to the enemy, Kim and Shelby had on faces of anger as they slowly get to their feet with their weapons in hand.

"So that's who's under the helmet…Interesting…" The Pink Ranger spoke to herself, unaware that a barrage of blasts came at her helmet from Kim and Shelby's Dino Morphers. Soon enough, they managed to break off the Pink Ranger's helmet, revealing who was underneath it.

"T...Tracey?!" Kim exclaimed in shock. "But…how?!"

"I made a pact with Sledge after he killed my husband and mortally wounded my children. He agreed to keep them alive if I worked for him. And now you just blew my cover. Some cousin you are." Tracey snapped angrily.

"You only got what was coming to you!" Shelby shouted in Kim's defense.

"Oh, look, the rookie covering your butt for you. How cute." Tracey scoffed before looking at Shelby. "You should be more concerned about your boyfriend than her, missy. Last I checked, he wasn't doing so hot…"

As Shelby stepped back in fear, Kim stepped forward. "If any of you freaks lay a finger on Troy, I swear to Zordon I'll…"

"You'll what? Kill us?" Tracey taunted. "Good luck with that. We're much stronger than the villains you've faced in your time, Kimberly. If anything, we'll kill Troy if you decide to come and save him…" The Pink Ranger then trailed off suddenly.

Shelby gave a quick look of horror before toughening up. "What have you done to Troy?!"

"Not telling you!" Tracey laughed before she felt her back being slammed into the concrete wall behind her. In her face was an angered Kim.

"You tell us what you've done to my child, or so help me Zordon, I will murder you right on the spot." Kim spoke in a deep voice.

"Isn't Troy your…" Tracey was cut off.

"TELL US!" Kim screamed. "TELL US WHAT YOU DID TO HIM NOW!"

"I…" Tracey got out as she felt herself being pressed into the wall. "I gave Troy a good gutting in the side, and as he bled, I teleported onto Sledge's ship and gave him up as a sought-after prisoner. He's worth big bucks on the market even though the Armada's gone."

Kim froze as she loosened her grip on Tracey, to which the woman fell to the ground and coughed loudly, currently incapacitated. Just then, Koda, Chase, Riley, and Kendall ran to Shelby's side.

"Shelby, what happened to your helmet?" Kendall asked.

"She shattered it…she shattered both mine and Kim's." Shelby pointed to Tracey, who was on the ground. "In return, we shattered her helmet."

"Is that…evil Pink Ranger?" Koda asked, and Shelby nodded. Chase then held his Dino Com in his hand, hoping to reach someone.

"Tyler. Tyler, do you copy?" Chase asked.

"I…I copy." Tyler's voice was shaky as he responded.

"Dude, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, just a bit tired and weak. W-What's up, Chase?"

"Kim and Shelby's helmets were broken, and it revealed their identities to the evil Pink Ranger. But in exchange, the girls broke the Pink Ranger's helmet and revealed her identities to us. It seems like Ms. Hart knows the chic pretty well…"

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, but I'm gonna have Koda go get you and bring you to us." Chase's eyes looked over at the caveman, who ran off towards Tyler's location. "Koda may take some time to find you, but he will."

"Chase…is Troy okay? Do you guys know where he is?"

"Yeah, but it's better to be shared in person."

"Okay." The line then went dead. Just as Chase turned his head, Fury zoomed by him and the other Rangers, standing by Tracey's side.

"So long, Rangers!" He quipped as he disappeared with Tracey. Kim, out of her frozen state, then began beating her fists against the concrete wall in pure rage,

"No, no, no! This can't be happening!" The woman cried before resting her head against the wall gently, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry they got you, Troy." Her voice quivered as she mumbled to herself. "I'm so sorry this happened to you…"

"Ms. Hart…" Shelby sighed as Koda came back with an injured Tyler. The Pink Ranger on the side of good placed a hand on Kim's back and gently patted it. "We're going to get Troy back…we're gonna…" Her encouragements didn't last long as Shelby also broke down into tears.

"What happened?" Tyler asked as he was set onto his own two feet.

"Troy's been taken prisoner by Sledge's crew." Chase told him. "This spells bad news for us…and I mean all of us, not just the core team."

Tyler looked down at the ground. "It's not fair for something like this to happen to Troy…"

"You're absolutely correct, Tyler." Kendall spoke up. "But we just need to focus on what's going on now. Kim, Shelby, and the Pink Ranger's identities have been revealed and Fury came into the picture…"

"And that him and I are now enemies…" Tyler commented, muttering.

"That too." Kendall added, hearing what he said. All of a sudden, Kim teleported away from the teens and caveman, who decided to officially demorph and head back to the base to tell Billy, Hayley, and the other Rangers what happened to them today.

Kim, on the other hand, teleported to the doorway of her apartment, and upon opening the door, she saw her place in disarray, as if a freak storm ripped through. As Kim slowly walked through the apartment in shock, she opened up the bedroom door and found a disturbing scene.

The bed Kim and Troy slept in was trashed, and near the bed was a large puddle of blood and a bloodied knife. Troy's pillow had blood splatters on its cream color as it was laying on the floor, and there was a large bloody hand print on the cram sheets of the bed. Kim's side of the bed was in a better condition, with the pillow clean, yet the comfiture and sheets of the bed were in sloppy clusters and hung off of Kim's side of the bed.

Picking up the weapon, Kim examined it with widened eyes. "My God…my God…" She muttered to herself, taking note of how much blood was on the knife.

"Troy…please be okay…please still be alive…" Kim then muttered to herself as she looked out of the window on her side of the bed. Keeping the knife in her hand, she looked at the bed and visualized that it was nighttime and that both she and Troy were asleep. Kim visualized herself looking over at her adopted son and taking his hand into hers as he slept.

"_Kim? Kim, can you read me?_" Billy's voice then came through her Dino Com.

"Yeah…what's up, Billy?" Kim asked him.

"_Are you okay? The kids told me about you teleporting away suddenly and your rage fits…I just want to know you're okay…_"

"I'm…I'm fine." Kim lied. "I was just thinking about…what's happening to…"

"_Troy? Kim, he's going to be okay. From what happened in the Legendary War, he's a strong and tough teenage boy. He's going to be safe and sound, even if he's stuck in Sledge's clutches._"

"Billy…" Kim started before she heard the phone ring. "I have to go." Hanging up the communicator, Kim picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Kimberly, is Troy there? Can I talk to him?_" A female voice asked her.

"Who is this?" Kim asked into the phone.

"_This is Gia._"


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9: Starts (Part 1)_**

"SILENCE!" Sledge shouted at the loud prisoners in the cell block he was walking down. Monsters with the ability to make people sick to those who cause simple destruction jumped at the bars detaining them as Sledge walked by them. He stopped at a particular cell that was monster-less…yet still had a prisoner.

"Megaforce Red." Sledge stated in a chilling, deep voice. Bound by rope, Troy slowly looked up to meet Sledge's eyes. His face and hair were drenched in sweat and one side of his abdomen had a large red stain that soaked through and dried on his shirt.

"S…Sledge." Troy hissed. "What…what do you want?"

"Just to see you in pain is all. You're the brave Red Ranger who took down the mighty Armada? Hard to believe, but then again, you're worth a lot of money. I think it's best if we sell you off."

"Not gonna happen." Troy snapped as Poisandra entered the room. She skipped to where Sledge stood and skimmed her fingers across his shoulders. Her eyes then caught sight of Troy.

"Oh, it looks like you've snagged Pinky's love interest!" Poisandra cheered.

"What?" Sledge asked.

"The Pink Ranger who has possession of the Pink Energem? This boy's her love interest!" Poisandra pointed to Troy, who had given up on keeping his head up and was laying on the cell floor.

"Really. Tracey did bring me something valuable after all." Sledge knelt down to look at Troy more closely. "I wonder if your star-crossed Pink Ranger would give up her Energem to spare you, nevertheless save you…"

"Sledgey-poo, why not have all the Rangers be forced to give up their Energems for this Red Ranger? That way we can have all of the Energems again and we can finally get married!"

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Good idea, my fiancée." Sledge complimented Poisandra, who clapped and giggled. Opening the cell, Sledge pulled Troy up to his feet and roughly pushed the boy to the bridge of his ship. Just then, he saw a sign for an Armada warrior who was still alive and was on Earth. Reading it, he found that he was able to accept and of the six Rangers who took out the Armada. That shifted gears for Sledge.

"Wrench!" Sledge shouted, to which the monster jumped and looked at Sledge with his saddened face.

"Uh, yes, Master Sledge?" Wrench's voice quivered.

"Take our prisoner down to Earth." Sledge then looked at Tracey. "And take Tracey with you."

.

"G-Gia? As in Megaforce Yellow Gia?" Kim asked, stuttering.

"_Yep. That's me. Now, is Troy there?_"

"Er, no."

"_Where is he?_"

"You know about the Dino Charge Power Rangers, right?" Kim then asked.

"_The Rangers that filled our shoes after the Legendary War? Yeah. What about them?_"

"Well, their enemy, Sledge, had one of his commanders kidnap Troy."

"_What?!_" Gia shouted loudly. "_Troy's been kidnapped again?!_"

"Yeah. He had an evil Pink Ranger kidnap Troy…and it's a shame to say I'm related to her."

"_How?_"

"She's my adopted cousin, Tracey. She made a deal with Sledge to protect her children after he killed her husband and fatally wounded them. She offered to care for Troy since he fell ill, and the next thing I knew I was fighting her after she told me what happened to him."

"_Sounds like you guys need help._"

"Gia, we can handle it…"

"_We'll be there soon._"

"Gia…" The line then went dead. Kim sighed as she placed the phone back on the receiver. Getting up, she decided to clean up the bedroom. As she fixed the bed completely, she had a hard time cleaning the puddle of blood and the stains left on the furniture. Kim's Dino Com then went off.

"_Hey, Kim?_" Billy asked. "_Can you get over to the base? It's urgent._"

Kim merely sighed. "I'll be there."

.

"Good to see you again, kids." Tommy shook Noah, Emma, Orion, Jake, and Gia's hand once more. "How's Harwood been?"

"Safe." Jake replied with a laugh. "Not a Loogie or X-Borg in sight."

"Good to hear." Tommy replied as Kim came in. "Kim! The Megaforce team is here and they want to help!"

"Really. Never knew." Kim replied sarcastically as she walked up to Gia. "I…we didn't need your help. Besides, why did you need to talk to Troy?"

"Orion came back to Earth." Gia replied, gesturing to the Silver Ranger. "And hearing that Troy's in the hands of a Big Bad again turns our stomachs."

"You're not alone." Shelby and Tyler muttered incoherently. Kim shot them a look.

"Look, Kimberly." Noah chimed in. "We know you want to save Troy with your team only, but you have to remember that he's our leader."

"Yeah, we wouldn't have defeated the monsters we fought if it wasn't for him leading up and teaching us new ways to stop them." Emma added.

Kim was then face to face with Orion as he looked her in the eye. "Troy means a lot to us, and we want to help save him. He's my best friend; there was a reason I gave him my bracelet. We want to help you, Kimberly. Please, just let us assist you in saving your son and our leader."

Kim pursed her lips. If she let them help, then they could get Troy back…but they were against what she wanted to do. If they didn't help, getting Troy back would be like finding a needle in a haystack as large as Mount Everest; near impossible.

Would she be willing to go against her own thoughts for saving one of her own? Or would she make finding Troy harder for the team and herself?

"Well…what do you all think?" Kim asked everyone but the Megaforce Rangers.

"I'm down for their help." Chase admitted.

"It'd be great to have the Rangers before help out. Besides, it's to save their leader." Riley added, to which Kendall nodded in agreement. Koda outstretched his arms as if to greet the five Rangers with a hug.

"Ms. Hart." Tyler laid a hand on her shoulder. "Troy means a lot to them and to us, especially you, Shelby, and I. Don't deny their help, embrace it."

"Yeah." Shelby agreed, to which Kim sighed. If her team was perfectly fine with having the Megaforce team help out, then she had no choice.

"Alright, you're all in."


	10. Chapter 10

**_Chapter 10: Collaboration (Part 2)_**

**A/N: Kendall's weapon will be introduced here as the "Plesio Rocket" after he counterpart's, Yayoi Ulshade, special weapon. This may change due to what the actual season presents her weapon as when the time comes. Just a heads-up.**

* * *

"Keep walking, Red." Tracey, in her fixed evil Ranger spandex, spat as she secured Troy's hands behind his back. He jostled him to keep moving forward after he stopped in the middle of the road on purpose. Troy grunted softly as he started to walk again.

"Oh, boy, I hope this goes off with no hitches…" Wrench stated in his shaking voice. "It wouldn't be good if Master Sledge were to be furious with us…"

"He's already mad at Fury." Tracey stated stoically. "All you would do is add to his rage."

"I know, but…" Wrench's voice trailed off as both he, Tracey, and Troy stopped moving.

"Well, this is the place where this Armada alien said he'd be." The evil Pink Ranger stated. "But he's not here."

"And now I am!" A cracking voice cheered as a monster with a stitched face, a cape draped over his body and arms, which looked to be made from rubber, stepped into their view. Two large sacks were in both of his hands.'

"Ah, you've brought me the Red Ranger. Excellent. I can't wait to have him feel the wrath of the Armada once he's in my possession."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, hand over the gold." Tracey ordered, to which the oddly built monster complied. As she took the bags, she found them to be heavy.

"Wow, this must be a lot of dough for us. I never knew the Red Ranger was worth so much."

"He was deemed to have an 'unlimited reward' in the bounty when I last checked."

"Well, then this is worth it. Do what you want with him." Tracey told the monster as she and Wrench teleported away. Troy looked at the monster as it undid the handcuffs. In response, Troy kicked the monster away, to which he fell on his back.

"Ow! Troy, it's me!" A familiar voice moaned ad he removed the apparent costume.

"Orion!" Troy cheered as he hugged the Silver Ranger tightly. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." Orion smiled warmly. "But now's not the time for reuniting. Come on, I'll take you back to the Dino Charge's base."

"On piggyback?" Troy asked with a smirk.

"Oh, I'd love to finally try it!" Orion spoke excitedly as Troy hopped on. The two Rangers then took off.

.

"Mission accomplished." Billy spoke triumphantly as Orion ran back in with Troy. As he got off, he felt someone hug him tightly.

It was Shelby.

"Troy, you're okay!" She cheered. "I missed you so much!"

"Yeah, I missed you too." Troy cooed as he smiled. He then heard four distinct giggles ad looked to see his four other teammates and best friends. He broke the hug with Shelby and rushed over to them.

"Jake, Noah, Gia, Emma!" The former Red Ranger remarked as he hugged them all. "Great to see you again!"

"Same to you, dude." Jake spoke for his friends.

"I just gotta ask, how in the world did you do all this?" Troy asked.

"Well, we found one last monster who said something about getting rewards for our heads, but we defeated him with ease. Then we had Orion pose as a makeshift monster to get you back, and it worked."

"Then, what were in the two sacks?"

"Rocks." Emma replied.

"Wow. Thanks, guys."

"Don't thank us, thank your mom." Noah pointed to Kim, who was talking with Billy. Turning around, her eyes locked onto Troy, who was shyly waving at her. She said nothing as she ran at him and hugged him tightly.

"You're okay…" Kim whispered in his ear.

"Yeah." Troy whispered back. As Kim let go she got on one knee and ran a hand over the red patch on Troy's shirt. He hissed in pain.

"Wow, Tracey must've really dug the blade deep for it to hurt still, nevertheless leave this much blood on a shirt." Kim commented. "I'll take you to the infirmary and have Jason treat you." She looked over at the Megaforce Rangers. "In the meantime, get to know the newest Rangers, okay?"

When they nodded and walked off, Kim went to the infirmary area, where Jason sat waiting. He examined Troy briefly before having the boy removed his shirt and lay down. Jason took out some rubbing alcohol and a few cotton balls.

"So, what exactly happened up at Sledge's ship?" Jason asked as he started cleaning the wound and the dried blood around it.

"I…" Troy began before hissing. "I was chained to the floor as my blood was spreading on my shirt. I had my side pressed to the ground so that I didn't lose consciousness due to blood loss."

"Then?" Kim asked as Troy was told to sit up and as Jason wrapped gauze around the wound.

"Poisandra then recommend that Sledge put me up for trade. He wanted the Energems in exchange for me. But the plan my friends made to save me must of persuaded Sledge to change Sledge's mind."

"Your friends were pretty smart to follow _my _plan." Kim reminded him. Troy rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, the five other Megaforce Rangers associated themselves with the six Dino Charge Rangers.

"A Black and a Green." Jake stated, impressed with Chase and Riley. "That's pretty cool, if I do say so myself."

"Oh, seriously, mate?" Chase groaned. "You were both of our colors!"

"And that's pretty impressive!" Riley cheered.

"Wow! A caveman!" Noah commented as he and Koda were face to face. "I never thought something so ancient could be preserved so well!"

"What...do you mean? I was frozen in...glacier for thousands of...years. Energem...had stopped my...aging."

"Fascinating!" Noah spoke in awe.

"So you're the Purple Ranger for the team?" Gia asked as she and Emma interacted with Shelby and Kendall.

"Indeed I am." Kendall responded.

"That's pretty cool!" Emma cheered before turning to Shelby. "And you're dating Troy?"

"Well, we haven't actually gone on a date yet." Shelby admitted. "With all of the monster battles, I haven't found a good day or even a good time."

"Oh. What a shame..." Emma trailed off. She then looked at Gia and smirked. "Hey, you know, Gia..."

"I _know_ Jake and I haven't gone on a date yet, Emma." Gia grunted. "I'm just waiting for him to day something about it."

"He will, I know it." Emma winked, and Gia just shook her head slightly and scoffed. Emma blushed in embarrassment.

"Um, why don't you two go meet Orion? We'll need some privacy." As the Silver Ranger greeted and started to talk with the girls, Emma looked at Gia. "What was that?"

"This team bothers me."

"Why? They all seem like nice people. What's so bad about them?"

"There's no Yellow Ranger! Emma, this is a crime!"

"Um, but Kim's the Yellow Ranger, you know..."

"I meant one our age."

"Ouch." Emma hissed. "Burn for Kim." Gia merely rolled her eyes.

"Hey..." Emma then spoke up. "Where's their Red Ranger...what's his name..."

"Tyler?" Gia answered. "I think he went to check on Troy."

"Oh." Emma merely stated as she jointed Noah and Koda. Gia went to join her boyfriend with Chase and Riley.

Back at the infirmary, Tyler sat near Troy, who had lost his shirt to Kim's neat freak attitude. He gently rubbed his wound through the gauze and hissed gently.

"Does it really hurt that much?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah." Troy sighed. "I wouldn't think Tracey would shove the blade that deep for this to happen."

"But it happened and now it's over." Tyler said affectionately. "We can move on from that."

"Yeah." Troy smiled as the alert system went off.

"Jason, take this." Billy poked his head in and tossed the old Might Morphin' morphed at Jason. "It's time to suit up again."

"Why?" Jason asked.

"Tracey came back, and she's brought friends." Billy told him. "Zack has his morpher, Tommy still had the Dragon Dagger in his possession, Hayley will wear Trini's suit, and...Kim..."

She opened her hand and took her old morpher. "I guess I can abandon Yellow for just this once. Now, let's go!"

.

"Rangers!" Tracey snarled as she saw the six Dino Charge teens, the Super Megaforce Rangers, and the six Mighty Morphin' Rangers standing together. "You've made it! Now you're gonna pay for tricking us!"

"Dream on!" Gia taunted.

"Fine then! Vivixs!" A whole plethora ran at the eighteen Rangers, who charged back at them. There was the clashing of swords and popping of blasters as they shoved their way through the many green and white foot soldiers.

"Oof!" Kim spat as she hit the ground. Tommy helped her to her feet. "There's too many!"

"The let's equip our weapons!" Billy told his teammates. "Power Lance!"

"Power Sword!" Jason shouted.

"Power Ax!" Zack shouted.

"Power Daggers!" Hayley shouted.

"Power Bow!" Kim shouted.

"Dragon Dagger!" Tommy shouted as the six mowed down their respective cluster of X-Borgs. The Dino Charge Rangers saw what their elders did, and they did the same.

"T-Rex Smasher!" Tyler shouted.

"Stego Shield!" Koda shouted.

"Para Chopper!" Chase shouted.

"Raptor Claw!" Riley shouted.

"Tricera Drill!" Shelby shouted.

"Plesio Rocket!" Kendall shouted as the six teens finished off their Vivixs.

That left the Megaforce.

"Come on guys, let's go legendary!" Troy shouted, and the other agreed as they pulled out their keys, Troy handing Orion a white one.

"_Legendary Ranger Mode: Dino Thunder!_" The main five Rangers shouted as they turned their keys.

"Dino Thunder Red!" Troy shouted. "Tyranno Staff!"

"Dino Thunder Blue!" Noah shouted. "Tricera Shield!"

"Dino Thunder Yellow!" Gia shouted. "Ptera Grips!"

"Dino Thunder Black!" Jake shouted. "Brachio Staff!"

"Dino Thunder White!" Emma shouted. "Drago Sword!"

"Legendary Ranger Mode: Mighty Morphin'!" Orion shouted as he inserted the White Ranger key Troy gave him. "Mighty Morphin' White! Saba!"

As one, the six Rangers defeated the last of the Vivixs in a spectacular explosion, larger than the other two.

"N-No way!" Tracey shouted as the Mighty Morphin' Rangers stood on one side of the Dino Charge Rangers, the Megaforce Rangers still in Legendary Ranger Mode on the other side.

Kim smirked under her helmet as everyone had their designated weapon ready. As they raised it and swung down, Kim stated:

"Way."

A large rainbow of attacks came at Tracey and struck, causing a large explosion. They all then cheered as the smoke cleared and Tracey laid there demorphed. Kim helped her up and held her hands behind her back.

"Now, let's make you good again." Kim quipped as she and the other Mighty Morphin' Rangers left the Dino Charge and Megaforce Rangers alone, to which they demorphed.

"Thanks for all of the help, guys." Tyler commented.

"No problem." Jake smiled. "Happy to help you guys out...but I think it's time we go."

"Shame." Riley sighed. "We wanted you guys to stick around like Troy is."

"Sorry, Riley, but our families are still in Harwood County, and we can't have them worry." Emma spoke in a sheepish tone.

"Hey, why don't you guys head back to the base?" Troy recommended. "I think they may need help conforming Tracey."

"Will do." Shelby nodded.

"See you later, then." Chase waved as the six teens left the Megaforce Rangers.

"And now that they're gone..." Troy turned to face his friends. "How about I treat you all to dinner?"

"Seriously?" Gia smirked.

"Yeah."

"I'm down." Emma chirped.

"I'm second that." Noah seconded.

"Third." Jake added.

"Fourth." Orion followed.

Troy looked at Gia, who nodded.

"Great!" Troy cheered. "Super Mega Rangers..." They joined in.

"..._that's a Super Mega Win!_"


	11. Chapter 11

**_Chapter 11: The Villain Hoard_**

**A/N: To answer your question, Gwendolyn Yuki, it really is based on your interpretation of the past chapters, but for now, let's just say it will dawn on Kim when the time comes for it. ; )**

"This is the reward?!" Sledge screamed in anger as he threw down the bags filled with rocks. "This is what you managed to get?!"

"Oh, Master Sledge, it's what that alien gave me!" Wrench pleaded his case. "I…I didn't know that the alien had given me rocks! Tracey and I had believed that it was a lot of money in the bags due to handing off that Red Ranger!"

"You were tricked, you imbecile!" Sledge then stood on his feet. "That monster was a fake in place of the real one, and it must've been set by the Rangers! Thy destroyed that alien and fooled us into giving back their dear ally!"

"Oh no…" Curio quivered as he hid his face in his hands.

"And thanks to your incompetence, Wrench, the Rangers, managed to capture Tracey! Knowing them, they'll turn her into a goody-two-shoes..." Sledge spat, shaking his head. He then stormed out of the room and to his quarters. As Curio tried to comfort a traumatized Wrench, Poisandra and Fury went to Sledge's aid.

"Sledgey-poo?" Poisandra called through his closed door. "Is everything alright? May Fury and I come in?"

There was no reply.

"Great." Fury sighed, shaking his head. "He's too stubborn to leave his room. He's not worth our time." He then told Poisandra.

"Don't tell me what to do, Kitty." Poisandra pointed a finger up at him. "I am entitled to do what I please. In fact, leave Sledge to me; why don't you go comfort Wrench with Curio?"

"Hmph, fine." Fury scoffed as he left Poisandra alone for the other two that were aforementioned.

"Sledge, it's just me now. It's just Poisandra." The female monster assured her fiancée. "May I please come in?"

"The door is open." A quiet voice answered, and Poisandra immediately opened it, but slowed her movements so that she wouldn't upset Sledge any further.

"Sledgey-poo…?" The pink, heart-shaped monster found her fiancée sitting on the edge of his bed, and she could tell he was feeling just a tad bit melancholic. Poisandra took her seat next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sledge?"

Sledge shrugged it off. "Don't touch me."

"My dear, why are you so upset? It was just one pathetic Ranger with a bounty on his head. What good will he have done you?"

"He would've given me a chance to finally reclaim all of the Energems…I was a fool for not going with your idea in the first place, my dear."

"Oh, Sledgey-poo, that's alright. I'm sure we'll find another way to reclaim the Energems from the Rangers."

"I hope you're right, my dearest, because if we don't or can't, then it's over…not just for us, but for everyone on this ship." Sledge then stood up and walked away from his bed a bit.

"Well, now that that's settled…what do you propose we do next?" Poisandra asked. "Should we try and reclaim that Red Ranger?"

"No." Sledge responded. "And Tracey is as good as dead to our crew…I think we should send down a monster so horrifying yet strong, the Rangers will be forced to lose their Energems…or forced away from their Energems!"

"Oh, Sledgey-poo, that's brilliant!" Poisandra got to her feet and clapped. "You always have the best ideas!"

"Only behind you, my dear." Sledge bowed to his fiancée before leaving his quarters, Poisandra following. She was then pulled aside by Fury.

"He's back out of his backwater room? What did you do to him?" The monster asked.

"We had a simple chat, that's all." Poisandra winked, and Fury shook his head, sighing.

"Alright, listen up!" Sledge commanded. "We have lost a valuable asset and a valuable prisoner, but that won't stop us! Wrench, as punishment for your incompetence and failure, you will clean up the Red Ranger's former cell…but I want you to save the blood. It may be useful. Poisandra, my dear, I want you to assist Wrench."

"A-Alright, M-Master Sledge." Wrench then left in shaky steps.

"No problem!" Poisandra waved.

"Curio and Fury, I want you two to find one of the most threatening monsters in any of the cell blocks you choose to look down." Sledge then stated

"Will do!" Curio nodded.

"Fine, but if you pick a monster that's all sunshine and lollipops, you'll be joining them in prison." Fury growled at Curio, which startled the puppet. They both left as well.

Sledge then sat on his throne as the Vivixs were working around the computers. A thought then occurred to him.

"Yes…Tracey is now a hero, which means our special little deal is off." Sledge muttered happily to himself. "You!" He pointed to a Vivix. "Bring me my 'special machine'!"

The foot soldiers threw it to Sledge, who caught it. He looked at it intently.

"Let's set this dial to one, shall we?" Sledge laughed as he turned a dial so that the pointer was on the first setting. "Those poor children will feel such migraines, but as the numbers turn, they grow sicker and sicker until…death."

"Master Sledge!" Wrench called as he and Poisandra returned. "We have the blood! I'll start with the tests right away!"

"And we've returned!" Curio cheered as he entered the room alongside Fury. "We've deployed a monster to Earth already. He has the ability for people to experience heartbreak and anger all due to love!"

"I wasn't keen on it, but it's pretty smart." Fury admitted.

"Excellent." Sledge commended. "Everything is finally falling into the right place. At this rate, we'll have the Energems faster than the Rangers will even realize they're gone."

"What now?"

"Just sit and watch. You'll see; everything will work out for us."

Meanwhile, in a home in Amber Beach, a teenage girl and boy fell to the floor clutching their heads and moaning. They called out for their mother, who ran to their side, shaking them and asking if they were okay.

"Kim?" The woman spoke into a communicator.

"_Yes?_" The voice on the other line responded.

"I need your help. Sledge broke our deal."

"_Troy and I will be right there._"


	12. Chapter 12

**_Chapter 12: Broken Wishes_**

**A/N: Props go out to the anime 'Kill la Kill''s OST for becoming my go-to music for writing stories or chapters from here on out.**

"Tracey, what happened?" Kim asked as she and Troy stood in a bedroom with Tracey. In the bedroom were two teenage children, about one or two years younger than Troy, lying on their beds either visibly sick or passed out. One was male and the other was female.

"I...well...I made a deal with Sledge a few years ago when my husband was killed, and as he was killed, my children were hurt badly, and so Sledge offered me a deal; I become his underling and the children would be saved. You can guess what I chose...didn't I tell you this before?"

"Yeah, but so what? Why would you make a deal with Sledge?" Kim asked.

"I had no choice! And thanks to your married tech wizards reforming me, he's going to kill them!"

"Tracey, calm down." Troy cooed. "We'll find a way out of this deal and both of them will be just fine too. I know it."

"How does he know?" Tracey whispered to Kim.

"He's...prophetic." The Yellow Dino Charge Ranger admitted.

"Oh."

"Hey, Mom?" The girl, who had the name of Meghan, asked with a croak. Her brother laid unconscious in his bed.

"Yes, Meg?" The woman asked. "Is something wrong, sweetie?"

"Can I...have some water?"

"Sure. I'll be right back." Tracey smiled as she, Kim, and Troy walked out of the bedroom. Just then, Kim's Dino Com went off. Troy and Tracey looked at her.

"Crap." Kim sighed. "What, Billy?"

"_Where are you and Troy? We need you guys at the base!_"

"Okay, we're on our way." Kim told Billy as she signed off. She looked to Troy. "They want us there."

"Okay." Troy answered before looking to Tracey. "Are you going to be okay here?"

"Yeah." Tracey nodded. "You guys go. I'll...we'll be fine."

.

"What is it, Billy?!" Kim shouted as she stormed into the base, Troy wincing as he followed. They both took a seat at a large round table with everyone else.

"We need a new plan." Billy told her. "I found it odd that Sledge wouldn't send a monster down to Earth to try and get Tracey back, so this may be the time to increase our security."

"We're not secure enough?" Chase asked with a smirk. "We're Power Rangers, Billy. We don't need extra security."

"Don't argue with him, Chase." Riley looked at him with clenched anger. "Respect your Ranger elders."

"Don't tell me what to do." Chase scowled. Riley rolled his eyes as he turned back to Billy. "Look, I'm not trying to say your idea is bad, but I just don't think we need extra security. Our biggest threat has been reformed to the good side and the monsters are just easy to defeat. There's no reason for beefed-up security."

"I understand that, Chase, but you never know what could happen." Billy argued. Chase simply scoffed as he got up and walked away. Riley called his name as he ran after the Black Ranger.

Billy sighed. "Meeting adjourned."

As the Rangers got up and mingled about the base, Shelby took an inward breath as she walked up to Troy.

"Hey." The Pink Dino Charge Ranger greeted.

"Hi." Troy smiled. "What's up?"

"Well, remember when you told me to tell you when I have a time set for our date?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I have one. This Saturday at my place. Seven o'clock."

"Saturday, huh?" Troy tapped his chin. "I'll have to check in with Kim, but I think I can make it. Do your parents know?"

"They're leaving for a week-long business trip on Friday."

"So they don't know…" Troy gave a concerned look. "Shelby...I'm not too sure about this..."

"Hey, what they don't know won't hurt them, right?"

"Right, but…" Troy watched as Shelby winked and walked away. He sighed as he walked towards Kim, only to see her talking with Tommy. "...I guess it's a date then."

"Great!" Shelby chirped as she kissed the former Red Ranger's cheek and walked away. Tyler then came up next to Troy.

"What was that about?" The current Red Ranger asked.

"Shelby just set up our first date at her house...alone." The former Red Ranger gulped.

"Oh...Tyler mumbled as he looked down at his feet. He had a pensive look as Troy caught his aura.

"Hey, Tyler, everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah...I'm just...really happy for you."

"Oh...thank you..." Troy mumbled as Tyler walked off, a small stomp in his step. Troy scratched his head as he walked over to Billy and Hayley, offering his assistance. As he looked behind him, he saw Kim and Tommy walk away from each other, to which Troy ran over to Kim quickly.

"Hey, Kim." The Red Megaforce Ranger greeted sheepishly.

"Um...hello Troy." Kim greeted with a confused expression. "What's up?"

"Nothing too important. So..."

"So...?"

"What were you and Tommy talking about?"

"Oh, I see." Kim crossed her arms and made an unamused look. "Looking out for me?"

"Is that bad?"

"_Troy._"

"Just tell me what you were talking about with him."

"I asked Tommy if he had any plans this Saturday at seven, and when he said no, I asked him over for dinner, to which he said yes."

"Wait...Saturday? At seven?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, um...that's kinda when Shelby set up our date."

"Oh, she did?! That's great!" Kim cheered as she threw her arms around Troy's shoulders. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks." Troy simply stated as he returned the hug. Kim backed off and had a smile on her face. "One problem though: her parents won't be home and they don't know that I'll be there."

"Oh, well..." Kim thought. "You're a smart boy. I'm sure you won't do anything stupid, right?"

"Right."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Look forward to it." Kim kissed Troy's cheek, and he sighed.

"Fine, but promise me nothing will happen between you and Tommy. I'd like to come home from a successful first date to see that my adoptive mother and her boyfriend weren't trying to rip each other's clothes off."

"I promise." Kim smiled as she patted Troy's cheek and walked off. As the Red Megaforce Ranger went back to helping Hayley and Billy, Chase and Riley were nearby, talking to one another (more or less Riley trying to coax Chase out of his mood).

"C'mon, Chase, stop this!" Riley tried.

"No!" The New Zealand-born teenager spat. "I'm not happy with what Mr. Tech Wiz said."

"So what if Billy thinks we need to beef ourselves up more? It'll help!"

"Help with what?" That got Chase to turn and face the Green Ranger. "Help us be prepared for nothing?"

"We'll have a sturdier defense so that our offense can destroy them..."

"Yeah, like that'll happen. Having more defense means that we're getting soft. And becoming soft is not what Chase Randall is about. I'm all about the muscleaning for fighting."

"Are you serious? You're going to talk about yourself?!" Riley groaned.

"Pfft, of course. Why wouldn't I?" Chase laughed slightly. "Sometimes, there's always a star in a team that shines brighter than the rest."

"Don't you know that there's no 'I' in team?"

"But there's an 'I' in 'winner'." Chase smirked as he walked off, leaving behind a very agitated and slightly confused Riley. As he walked over to the Black Ranger, they passed by Tyler, who sat in a corner of the base away from everyone else.

That is, until Kendall and Koda joined him.

"Tyler, is everything okay?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine." The Red Ranger muttered.

"Tyler upset." Koda frowned. "What is...problem?"

"There's no problem, Koda. Don't worry." Tyler spoke in a near-hiss. The Purple and Blue Rangers didn't buy his story. As Kendall motioned for Koda to leave (signaling that she would handle this), she was in front of Tyler, on her knees.

"Tell me the truth, Tyler." Kendall whispered gently. That gained her a look from the Red Ranger. "What's wrong?"

Tyler stared for a few more seconds. "Nothing's wrong, Kendall."

"But..."

"Everything's fine."

"Tyler..."

"I said everything's FINE!" Tyler snapped loudly, which made Kendall jump back. While her body recovered from the shock of Tyler's yell, Kendall's brain was still trying to pry the Red Ranger open.

"Look, I know something's bothering you. And until you tell me what it is, I'm not going to leave you alone."

"Kendall..." Tyler sighed as he saw the Purple Ranger with her arms crossed. He gave in. "It's...Shelby. I have feelings for Shelby, okay?"

"You have a crush on Shelby?" Kendall asked curiously. "When did this happen?"

"I don't know, maybe when we first met in Ms. Hart's class? All I know is that I like her. I mean, what's not to like? She's strong, pretty, smart, sassy...she's perfect."

"Yeah...I guess she is, isn't she?" Kendall slightly bit her lip. "But you know she likes Troy."

"I know, and that's the part that bothers me. I...I should be the one with Shelby, not him. I mean, Troy's a great guy and all, but he's...not the guy for Shelby..."

"Look, it's how she feels about him. You'll have to let it go." Kendall spoke in remorse. "It's obvious these tow have no chance of ever breaking up."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Tyler sighed. "I guess I..."

The alarm cut him off.

"There's a monster attack downtown!" Hayley announced. Kim nodded as she looked over at Tyler, Shelby, Koda, Riley, Chase, and Kendall.

"Alright, let's go."

.

"Where are the Rangers?" A monster covered in a different assortment of greens and blues with small mounds that resembled glass asked as she looked around.

"We're here, monster." Kim stated as she and the six others walked towards the female monster. She clapped.

"Oh, good. You're here. Just what Wishmite wanted."

"Wishmite?" Chase asked. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's my name, fool! And I can't wait to take your hopes and eat them! All you humans do his hope for success, but once I take that away, there won't be any hope!"

"Yeah, no hope for you!" Tyler pointed.

"Rangers, equip weapons!" Kim ordered. "Sabertooth Claws!"

"T-Rex Smasher!"

"Stego Shield!"

"Raptor Claw!"

"Para Chopper!"

"Tricera Drill!"

"Plesio Rocket!"

"Attack, Vivixs!" Wishmite commanded as the white and green monsters charged at the Rangers. As they slashed their way through the foot soldiers, Wishmite zoomed in on her targets.

"Seems like you all have a heart of hope. Let me fix that!" As the Rangers kept their head-on charge, the monster fired at Tyler, Shelby, Riley, and Kim, to which a golden beam left their bodies. Kendall, Chase, and Koda skidded to a stop as the four hit Rangers sat on their knees and demorphed to reveal their tear-stricken faces.

"She...she won't ever love me back!" Tyler sobbed.

"I'll lose Tommy again!" Kim cried.

"The date's going to fail...and Troy won't want to go out with me anymore!" Shelby whined.

"Our defense is too weak...we failed..." Riley whimpered.

"No!" Koda gasped as Kendall and Chase ran to Tyler and Riley's side.

"What did you do to them?!" Chase demanded as he readied his Para Chopper.

"Tell us!" Kendall added as she aimed her Plesio Rocket.

"I stripped them of their hope! Now all that they believe in is failure!"

"You...monster!" Koda stated angrily.

"Well, I have to head out. Toodles, Rangers!" Wishmite waved as she disappeared. As Kendall and Chase helped a sobbing Tyler and Riley to their feet, Koda held onto Kim and Shelby's arms as they were helped up.

"Billy!" Kendall called in on her Dino Com.

"_I read you, Kendall. What is it?_"

"We need an emergency transport. Now."

.

"C'mon, guys, calm down." Jason muttered as he, Zack, Rocky, Karone, Hayley, and Zhane watched from nearby as the four distraught Rangers were tended to.

"How in the word did this even happen?!" Billy asked.

"Monster...had bright beams...take hope from friends." Koda explained, and Billy nodded with his statement. Everyone watched as Kendall, Tommy, Chase, and Troy tried to calm Tyler, Kim, Riley, and Shelby.

"Hey, Tyler, it'll be okay. You'll still have a chance with Shelby." Kendall cooed.

"N-No, I won't! And I owe it all to her boyfriend!" Tyler reared his head towards Troy, who caught his look and turned away to avoid an uncomfortable feeling.

"C'mon, Kim, you won't lose me. It's different now!" Tommy spoke gently.

"No it isn't! I'll lose you like I lost you back then!" Kim complained.

"Hey, Riley, buddy, calm down. We weren't weak, we were just...cleverly decieved." Chase stated calmly.

"Easy for you to say! You're the Hot-Shot!" Riley sobbed.

"Shelby, hey, calm down. The date won't be terrible..." Troy tried to say, but all he got were a pair of angry eyes.

"Like that's supposed to make me feel better." The Pink Ranger spat. "How would you know?"

The former Rangers' eyes were on Troy and Shelby. "I...know it'll be fine. It's just going to be a nice dinner."

"Dinner? Is that it?" Shelby asked with an attitude. "That's all it is? That's horrible!"

"No...no it isn't."

"Oh, just shut up!" Shelby screamed. "I don't need you to comfort me! I know there's no hope for this date since it's just a pathetic dinner! Now that I think about it, I don't think you deserve me."

"Shelby, stop it." Troy spoken in a cold, stern voice.

"Now you're commanding me to do something! I see how it is."

"Stop. It. Now."

"You know what, I'm done. We're through, so do me favor and get out of my life. It would make it easier to make sure you never existed."

And with that, Troy got to his feet, and he held a grim expression as he walked off.

Jason knelt down next to Tommy. "I think you should go be a father figure to Troy...he went through something rough with Shelby."

"But Kim..."

"I'll stay with her, you go help Troy." As Jason pushed Tommy along, Koda was given the chance to comfort Shelby. As the Ranger of many colors walked to where he found Troy (which was the imfirmary), he had to cringe at the sight of the former Megaforce Ranger looking down at his hand sadly.

"Hey, you okay?" Tommy asked, coming into the area.

"Huh?" Troy looked over at him. "Oh, I'm fine. Why are _you _here?"

"I wanted to see what was bugging you."

"Who told you to come here?"

"Jason."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but that's not the point here." Tommy then sat next to Troy, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Why'd you leave like that? Was it because of Shelby unconsciously breaking up with you?"

"No, I knew she didn't mean that. It was what she said afterward...it reminded me of my mom."

Tommy was taken aback. He bit his lip as he gave Troy a sympathetic look. "How so?"

"Well...whenever she was upset and exhausted at the same time, I would always inadvertently bother her and I never knew why. So when I kept asking to play, she'd snap and start yelling uncontrollably at me, and she'd finish with 'Sometimes, I wish you never existed.' It hurt deeply for me because of how much I loved her, but at least she would profusely apologize afterward."

"Okay, so...?"

"There was one day, though...one day I won't forget. I was four years old..."

.

_It was a very snowy day in Zurich, Switzerland, so snowy that it was almost blinding with how much was coming down. But as the very calm storm had ceased, the people had come back out onto the street and began to work._

_One of them being twenty-two-year-old Trinity 'Trini' Kwan._

_As she lightly stepped into the snow that was up to her ankles, she looked over at the small, four-year-old boy standing at the base of the door of the apartment complex they were situated in._

_"C'mon, Troy, the snow won't hurt you." Trini coaxed gently._

_"But...it's too cold." Troy put his hand out into the air and shivered. That was when Trini realized something._

_"Oh, I forgot to give you your mittens. Hands out." The woman knelt down and slipped the garments onto Troy's small hands. As she put the last one on, she then yanked Troy outside and closed the door._

_"See, this isn't so bad, is it?"_

_"I...I g-guess not..." Troy mumbled, shivering. Seeing that he was going to try and force himself not to walk in the snow that went up to his knees, Trini pulled him up into her arms, to which she kissed his head before walking onward._

_"Hey, Trini! Troy!" A burly man waved as he called to her in his accent. "Good to see you two!"_

_"Hey, Nico!" Trini greeted as she went up to the man, Nico. He was standing behind a fruit cart. "Um…isn't it a bit cold for selling fruit?"_

_"Ah, these just came from the desert. I'm putting them out so that they can be chilled. Here, have this apple, it's on me." Nico handed the former Yellow Ranger the red fruit, to which she gave it to Troy. As he gnawed on it, Trini put her focus to Nico._

_"So what brings you out here, Miss Kwan?" Nico asked._

_"Burrows." _

_"Come again?"_

_"It's Burrows now, Nico. Even though David is gone, I still retain his name." The woman pointed out. As she and Nico continued their conversation, Troy noticed a man who was staring at his mother intently._

_"Mommy." The boy signaled his mother before pointing to the man. The second Trini looked at him, she tensed up in fear. _

_"Well, Nico, nice seeing you!" Trini waved as she began to run._

_"Wait, where are you…" Nico asked as he watched the male grab Trini's free arm. He spun her around so that he could look at Trini's face...as well as Troy's._

_"Hello, Trini." The man greeted._

_"Oh! Richie...hi." Trini greeted sheepishly._

_"How are you?"_

_"Good."_

_"That's great to hear. And who's this?" Richie asked as he looked over at Troy._

_"Troy."_

_"And he is?"_

_"My son."_

_"Your...son?" Richie swallowed as he had a clenched expression. He couldn't believe what he was hearing._

_"Yes, my son. Now what are you doing here in Switzerland?"_

_"Oh, I came on vacation."_

_"Really?" Trini wasn't convinced._

_"Well...that and I kinda, sorta missed you..."_

_"Look, Richie, I like you, but we don't have a chance as a couple. I'm happily married and I have a family of my own now. It's time to move on."_

_Trini turned around to leave, only to have Richie take hold of her wrist. She looked at him. "Let go."_

_"No. Trini, I heard about your husband's 'disappearance'. He's the biggest gossip in Zurich!"_

_"Richie..."_

_"I want to be there for you."_

_"No, I'm fine. Really."_

_"Trini..."_

_"She said she's fine." Nico snapped as Richie looked at him. "Now leave her and Troy alone."_

_"Stay out of this." Richie warned._

_"You heard him, Richie. Leave us alone now."_

_Saying nothing, Richie spun Trini around and slapped her on her cheek. The former Yellow Ranger backhanded Richie in his cheek in return, which angered the man. He threw a few punches Trini's way until he decided to do a side one, which abruptly slammed into Troy's face._

_"Troy!" Trini called in concern as she fell to her knees to tend to her son. That was when Nico steppes in between them. _

_"That's enough." Nico stated angrily._

_"Move it, you big tub of lard! I'm after her!"_

_"Not anymore! You crossed the line when you hit her child. Anyone who harms a child is cruel in my eyes." Nico then held Richie up by his shirt. "And don't you call me that again."_

_"Trini...! Where are you going?" Richie called as he watched the woman run back to her apartment. She turned back around slightly._

_"None of your business. Now, Richie, gladly get out of my life and stay out. Stay away from me, from Troy, from my husband if you see him, and away from anyone else I'm close with like Nico. You're not accepted here anymore."_

_As Richie was dropped, he swore his revenge before running away from Nico. The fit man helped Trini home so that she can tend to Troy, who had quite a moderate trail of blood running down his face._

.

"Wow...so that's why those words hurt. It reminds you of how your mother protected you." Tommy sighed. Troy looked at him.

"Yeah, I thought I said that already."

"Well, you did and you didn't."

"Oh, I see." That was when Jason had walked in.

"Am I interrupting?"

"No." Troy and Tommy echoed.

"Good, because you two need to come back. I think they're ready for you." As the two males followed Jason to the main floor of the base, they saw Kim and Shelby waiting there for them. They looked calm but still had some tears running down their cheeks.

"Tommy, you go first." Jason gestured.

"Okay." Tommy stepped up right in front of Kim and held her hands. "Look, Kim, the letter was in the past, and it'll stay there. I love you now, and God knows what will break us apart again. We can, no, we _will _become the couple we once were again, maybe even better."

"Do...do you really mean that? We have hope for the future?" Kim asked.

"I mean it. I know it." Tommy smiled as he hugged Kim, and as he did so, a golden orb appeared and went into Kim's body, to which she rapidly wiped the tears away.

"Um, why was I crying?"

"It worked!" Billy cheered as the others and noises of celebration. "The only way to break the spell is to have someone who really cares about the other give comfort! Chase, Kendall, help Tyler and Riley out!"

"Right!" The Black and Purple Rangers choruses as Kendall went first. She put a hand on Tyler's shoulder.

"Tyler, look, you may not get the girl you're galling for, but that's not the end of the world. You're a really amazing guy, and any girl would be super lucky to go out with you..." That made Kendall trail off.

"R-Really?" Tyler asked curiously.

"Yes, really." Kendall smiled with rosy cheeks as the golden orb flew into Tyler, fixing him. He responded with a tight hug to Kendall.

"Chase...?" Kendall looked over at her companion, who had a mad blush on his face as he faces Riley. In a sudden move, Chase tightly held both of the Green Ranger's arms as he let their foreheads touch.

"Riley, listen. We're not weak, and while we may need some extra beef, it'll definitely come in handy for us...just like you said. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before."

"Chase...it's alright." Riley smiled. "I'm glad that there's hope." As he spoke, another golden orb came to him.

"You're back!" Chase cheered as he hugged Riley tightly and kissed his cheek (the latter he did subconsciously). Everyone looked at him with a weird expression before Riley kisses his cheek back, a wink following.

"And last but not least, Troy." Chase smirked. The Megaforce Ranger had both his hands on Shelby's shoulders.

"Shelby, this date won't be terrible. It'll be a simple dinner, and that's way better than some place at a restaurant. As long as we're together, it doesn't matter if the date is great or not."

"You...you mean that?"

"That's coming from the bottom of my heart. I love you, and I'd be happy if our date was where we just sat on a couch and talked."

Shelby said nothing as she hugged Troy tightly. "I love you too, and I'm sorry for what I said to you. I didn't mean it."

"I know."

"And I'm happy to hear that you'd still be with me no matter if a date goes well or not. I'm...hopeful again." The final golden orb the Rangers expected came down to Shelby, and once it disappeared, she pulled Troy in for a kiss. The others 'ooh'ed in response.

"Whoa..." Troy spoke in awe as he pulled away first. All Shelby was tap his cheek and wink before walking over to her team.

"Glad that everything's fixed." Hayley began. "Because Wishmite is present in the area and is looking for a fight."

"Great!" Tyler clapped as he led the five other kids his age to the exit. Kim followed closely behind as they went to defeat the monster with ease.

.

"Great job, you guys." Tyler congratulated as the team of seven came back to the base. "Monster extinct."

"Nice quip." Chase laughed. "Very creative."

"I do my best." Tyler winked before turning his attention to Kendall. "Um, Kendall, thanks for breaking me out of that spell. I...really appreciate it, and while I may still have lingering feelings towards Shelby, it's good to hear that other girls are out there...girls like you."

"Aw..." Kendall blushed. "Well, I'm only speaking the truth. And hey, if something does happen between Troy and Shelby that causes them to split, I'll be behind you with winning over Shelby."

"You will?"

"Of course! What are friends for?"

Meanwhile, Chase had went over to Riley, who requested to talk.

"What's eating at ya, mate?" Chase asked.

"Well, um...I just wanted to thank you for snapping me out of that. I...couldn't have done it at all if not for what you said. But...I wanted to talk to you about your little romantic gesture..." Riley stated.

"Look, Riley, I did that in the heat of the moment, and..."

"...I loved that."

"Huh?!"

"You see...I've kinda had a thing for you, but since you're a 'ladies man', I figured you wouldn't like me back."

"So that's why you kissed my cheek back..." Chase muttered before clearing his throat. "Well, drop that thought. I...I...like you too, but I was a chicken to admit it, so I put up the 'ladies man' front to hide my feelings for you."

"Oh...wow...this can't seriously be happening." Riley breathed as Chase held his hand.

"Oh, it is, but let me know when you're ready to go steady. I'm ready anytime." The Black Ranger winked as he walked out into the open, still holding Riley's hand. Everyone then clapped.

"It's about time!" They all chorused at different times. Tommy and Troy smiled wide and said nothing before looking at each other.

"Hey, um, thanks for listening to my story. I...didn't expect that you'd stay." Troy admitted.

"Well, I wanted to be there for Kim's other favorite guy...which is you."

"I know that." Troy rolled his eyes. "Well, have fun on your date with Kim, but don't do anything you'll regret later, got it?"

"And you'll do the same with Shelby?" Timmy asked smugly.

"Of course. I at least know when to keep myself down." Troy laughed as he walked off with Tommy following him, jokingly reprimanding him as everyone enjoyed the victories the day had to offer.

**A/N: Chiley, anyone? ; )**

**Sorry this is late (well, late for me. I don't know for you guys), but I had to figure out how to write this chapter while putting in something for Chase and/or Riley, and here it is. Also, the dates have finally been placed so you'll be getting that in a chapter or two, as well as some subtle hints of Kendall/Tyler (whatever the ship name is. Kyler? Tyndall?), so there's that too. And backstory that gives some glimpse for Trini (bet you can't guess her killer), and there'll bemail more of that iN the future...up until a certain point, wink wink.**

**Hopefully you enjoyed this, and hopefully the next update deals with Mr. Sixth Ranger.**

**Also, there will be one difference from the show when it comes to the team; Aqua will be female *and you may know who she is from this chapter if you read close enough* and I might not have this 'Prince Philip' as the Gray Ranger *that may go to Matt, but it depends on how they handle him*. Just a heads-up for later, and August 29th better come fast. I want Dino Charge back! (Who doesn't in all honesty?)**

**Also, new longest chapter at 5k words. : P**


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 13: Stumble_**

**_A/N: Why, hello there, story! Where have I been? Many places, like one called 'High School'. I am sorry I abandoned you for awhile but I have come back for you, and I am ready to pick up where I have left off. Hopefully everything works out from here now!_**

**_(Also, over 8,000 views?! Is this story really this awesome?! :D)_**

**_Uh...right, anyway, hopefully you enjoy!_**

* * *

"Troy!" Shelby exclaimed in pure joy as she opened the front door of the Watkins household to her date.

"Hey, Shelby. Thanks for...inviting me over." Troy smiled coyly. He stepped inside and looked around. It was a pretty quaint house for a family of three.

"Nice place you got here."

"Thanks." Shelby beamed. "It's pretty nice compared to the other houses here in the neighborhood." She took Troy's arm and led him to the dining table. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Uh, sure." Troy replied with uncertainty and he watched Shelby disappear into the kitchen. The former Red Ranger gulped._ Oh boy._

* * *

"Kim, hi!" Tommy cheered as he pulled Kimberly into his arms for a hug. He stepped inside and shut the door as he sat down on the sofa of the apartment Kim and Troy shared.

"So what's up?" Tommy asked.

"Not much. Troy left for his date with Shelby." Kim answered as she unfolded two wooden trays. "He was nervous about it, but knowing him he'd do nothing wrong, so I assured him everything would be fine and he went to Shelby's house."

"I see. First date jitters?"

"More like fear of what's to result from the date. He actually dated his Yellow, Gia, a few times."

"What?! Why?! I mean, not that Gia isn't pretty or anything like that, but just...why?" Tommy asked in a stutter.

"He agreed to it in order to make Jake jealous. It was more like fake-dating. Even the kisses they shared had no meaning to them. It was all to peeve Jake off."

"Why?"

"Because according to Troy, he looks really hilarious when he's mad." Kim giggled as she carried out two gourmet TV dinners to the trays before sitting down.

Tommy chuckled before biting into some of his pasta. "Harwood sure sounded like a lot of fun for you two."

Kim smiled warmly at him. "Yeah. Troy looked so happy there, having friends that loved him deeply and being an excellent Red Ranger to the townspeople. Not only that, but I'm the first person to adopt him that didn't put him through hell and back."

"Yep..." Tommy smiled back before seeing Kim tense up with a frown on her face. "...Kim?"

"He was so happy..._Troy was so happy._ That's all I want." Kim mumbled.

"What?" Tommy asked, perplexed.

"Tommy, I want to see Troy happy. He lost so much, and he had to fight for his life...I want to see him have a happy life. I'm here raining the rest of his teenage years, Shelby's his loving girlfriend, the Megaforce are his best friends, everyone here loves him...and you."

"Me?"

"You try to be the father he never had. And I think you're succeeding." Kim blushed as Tommy leaned in for a gentle kiss on the lips.

"If making Troy happy keeps you happy, I'll die for him." Tommy smiled warmly before a thought occurred to him. "Kim?"

"Yeah?"

"You said Troy never had a dad...a _good _dad?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Do you know his mom? His birth mom?"

"I...I'm not sure. I feel like I should know her, but I just don't know her."

"Actually, Kim, you do. You know her well, and that's because you two were best friends."

"We were?"

"Yes! Troy's mom was Trini!"

"What?!"

"That woman who was shot and killed in Switzerland back in 2001? The victim was Trini, and the boy thrown into the truck of oranges was Troy!"

"It...it was them? No way, Tommy." Kim shook her head in disbelief.

"Yes, way. It was them. Kim...it was fate that brought you and Troy together...it really was. I don't care how sappy that sounded, it's true."

"I know. The Power does amazing things, doesn't it?"

"Yep." Timmy smiled at Kim before they both leaned over and has a kiss full of passion. It was unlike the others they shared before. They broke off briefly.

"I love you." Tommy stated.

"I love you too." Kim replied back before they kissed again, the passion washing over them as they disappeared from the living room.

* * *

"So, Shelby, what do your parents do?" Troy asked as he ate a piece of the turkey his date had made for them.

"My dad's an accountant, and my mom's a psychologist. They make a lot of money that goes into my college fund and into the interior of our house. I kinda wished they uses it for something else though."

"I see. So, what do you want to be when you graduate college?"

"Probably a paleontologist. I love dinorsaurs, especially triceratops, and I think it'd be a fit considering what theme our Ranger suits are. What about you, Troy?"

The boy set his fork down gently. "I...I want to help people find their missing family members, so most likely a detective or a searcher of some kind. I want people to find their loved ones and be a family...despite my dad leaving me as a baby and my mom being killed when I was five. I can't fix the past, but I can definitely save others' futures."

"Wow..." Shelby trailed off. "You sound dedicated to this."

"I don't want to do anything else but help others. It's in my blood to do so."

"I see." Shelby smiled as she found their meals to be finished. Cleaning up the dinner table, the two walked to the couch and sat down. They lurked in the silence for a few minutes before Shelby let her fingers climb up Troy's arm. The boy shivered at her touch.

"So, uh, what do you want to do? Watch a movie, maybe?" Troy asked nervously. This was the thing he feared would happen.

"Hmm, nah. We don't really have movies here. Mom says it's harmful to my brain. I'm lucky I have TV!" Shelby answered before giggling. Troy shakily laughed along with her.

"Oh...I see. A board game?"

"Nope. Dad gave all of ours to charity."

"Then what do you have?"

"I have a bedroom filled with things. Come check it out." Shelby stood up and dragged Troy to her toom, and all he saw was pink and dinosaur bones.

"Wow." He spoke in awe. "Nice room."

"Thanks." Shelby blushed. "Glad you like it." She moved and sat down on her bed. Troy was pulled down next to her, to which she was still holding his hand.

"So..." Shelby began.

"So..." Troy repeated.

"...how was the date so far?"

"It's actually been going pretty we..._so far?! What do you mean so far?!_" Troy raised his voice.

"Yeah, there's more. I'm sure you know this part." Shelby spike coolly as she leaned in and kissed Troy on the lips. She pushed against him in order to knock him down, but feeling this happen, Troy broke away and got up.

"What was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"That! You pushing...oh, I got it." Troy sighed, his worst nightmare tonight coming true. "Shelby, I think I'm gonna head home."

"But Troy..."

"Good night." He concluded as he left her room and walked out of the front door. The Pink Ranger sighed as she laid down in defeat.

* * *

"Kim, I'm home!" Troy called. He did not hear a reply, which concerned him. Stepping inside, he called for Kim again and there was no answer.

"Kim...?" Troy asked one last time ad he saw the door of their bedroom closed. He pressed his ear to the cold metal and heard gasps and moans. He opened the door to find the source.

It added insult to injury.

"_Kim?!_" Troy shouted at her and Tommy when she saw them both in bed seemingly without clothing on.

"Huh?" Kim asked hazily before seeing her adopted son in the doorway. "_Troy!_"

"Troy?" Tommy looked behind him. On the former Megaforce Ranger's was an expression of pure horror and heartbreak. Saying nothing, he slammed the door and walked away from the scene that befell him, hoping to not see those two for the rest of the night as he left his home.


End file.
